Genealogy Universe: Caitlin McKenzie S1
by Silver-Eternal-Dragon
Summary: BTVS Season 1 Re-write. Caitlin McKenzie-Halliwell, younger sister to Buffy Summers, older sister to Dawn Summers and cousin to the Halliwell Sisters. Series will eventually be FaithxOC WillowxTara Not FUFFY
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **** I do not own any of the BTVS or Charmed characters or storyline.  
>The only thing I own is my own Original concepts. <strong>

**This story is a re-write of BTVS Season 1. It has some _slight _changes_. _Such as Dawn is in it, Buffy and Dawn have another Sister, who will be explained in this chapter. It is also a crossover with Charmed but as for now they are not major characters in it and there will be a Charmed piece that goes along side it eventually.**

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><p><span>Welcome to the Hellmouth<span>

Joyce Summers pulled up in front of the school and warily turned to face the passenger seat, where her daughter sat. Buffy Summers turned to face her mother knowing she was in for a lecture "Okay please behave and try not to burn anything down," turning her head to look in the back where her other daughter Caitlin Halliwell-Summers sat "Both of you," her tone was firm even if she were begging her daughters.

Caitlin looked at the school then back to her mother "I'll try" she said with a hint of a smile on her face but it was quickly gone making Joyce sigh.

"Mom don't worry we'll be on our best behaviour, won't we Cait?" Buffy turned to face her sister slightly but kept most of her body facing her mother. Caitlin was going to make a snappy remark but kept it to herself when she saw the look on her mother's face, so instead she nodded.

Joyce looked between her daughters and saw they were serious so she nodded in reply to their assurances, "can one of you pick Dawnie up for me? I've got to get the gallery a place to set up and it's going to take a while" Joyce looked to Buffy but the girl was almost pulling a face. She knew Buffy loved her sister but Dawn was hyper most of the time at the moment, with the thought of a new town and new friends and it was obvious she didn't want to get her ear talked off by her sister.

Caitlin snorted at the look on her sister's face "I'll pick the Taz up" this time the girl did smile, her younger sister could always bring a smile to her face. Caitlin had a nickname for Dawn and it was Tasmanian devil because the younger girl was obsessed with the animal after watching the Looney Toons cartoon, so now she called her Tasmanian devil or Taz for short and only she could get away with it.

The mother looked relieved "Thank you honey and try not to be late I don't want her to panic." The girl nodded back at her mother and started to climb out of the car and Buffy followed her lead "Have a great day and try not to get kicked out," the girls murmured back about hoping so, Joyce put the car in gear and drove off.

Caitlin looked up at the School with a small frown on her face; it was a couple months into the term and she was almost dreading starting the new school year. Buffy saw the look on her sisters face and slung an arm around her sisters shoulder "It'll be fine, new school with new people no one will know," the comfort only worked slightly because the frown disappeared but the anxiety remained in the girls eyes. Buffy started towards the school and Caitlin started to follow but before she got too far she noticed a guy staring at her sister whilst ridding a skateboard, he was so transfixed he didn't notice the railings and crashed into them. Caitlin raised an eyebrow and started after her sister.

~GU:CM~

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><p>Caitlin Halliwell-Summers, born to Joyce Summers and Ricky McKenzie, she is Buffy's and Dawn's half-sister. Joyce and Hank split a few months after Buffy was born and Joyce's best friend Ricky was there to help her. Eventually they started a relationship and exactly a year and 9 months after Buffy was born, Caitlin was born. Ricky died 26th January 1983, just 3 months after his daughter was born; Joyce continued to raise Buffy and Caitlin on her own until Hank came back into the picture a year later and their relationship was back on track. When the girls were 5 and 3 years old, Dawn was born and Hank and Joyce's relationship got better. Until 2 years ago when Hank started having an affair with his secretary and started to drift away from his girls, he became very harsh towards Caitlin who he had considered a daughter, or so everyone thought. Caitlin had always resented her step father and even went as far as to avoid any contact with him, which was hard for her sisters to see but her mother understood knowing why unlike her sisters.<p>

Caitlin was similar to her sister Buffy but she was slightly taller and slightly bigger seeing as she thought her sister was too skinny. Her hair was a dirty blonde that was cut short and didn't quite reach her shoulders and was cut in layers of irregular lines and the teenager usually wore it spiked out slightly giving it a messy look that suited her perfectly. Her eyes were identical to that of her older sisters which she was glad for because she loved Buffy's eye colour, a forest green, slightly darker than usual green eyes with hints of brown around the iris.

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><p>~GU:CM~<p>

Caitlin and Buffy were sat in chairs in front of the principles desk as he was digging through files in his filling cabinet; he made a noise of victory at finding their files obviously expecting them to be in the same place but he was mistaken. "Buffy Summers, sophomore and Caitlin Halliwell-Summers, sophomore, Late of Hemery High School Los Angeles. Interesting Records, quite a career you both have," he placed the files in front of him as he sat down. Caitlin and Buffy glanced at one another and as they turned their heads to look back at him, he surprised them by ripping an identical bit of paper from both files, "Welcome to Sunnydale, a clean slate girls that's what you get here. What's past is past." Caitlin raised both eyebrows and her older sister matched that look "We're not interested in what it says on a piece of paper, even if it says," Principle Flutie picked a piece of paper and read it quickly then looked shocked "Whoa!"

Buffy quickly decided to intervene before the third degree came, "Mr Flutie..." Caitlin could see the excuses pilling in her sisters head.

Principle Flutie quickly stepped in "Kids here are free to call me Bob," neither sisters believed that to be true but had to follow it.

The older sister shot her younger sister a look knowing the drill but the principle clearly wanted her to say it "Bob..."

"But they don't," it was an obvious set up so neither of them looked shocked or offended that he had changed his mind about allowing them to call him by his first name, the man was too busy trying to put the paper back together to look up at them anyways.

Buffy carried on determined to get this out of the way early "I know our transcripts are a little...colourful," yet again the Principle cut her off.

"Hey! We're not caring about that," the two sisters looked at him in disbelief here he was telling them it wasn't important and they didn't care about that as he was getting cellar tape to stick them back together "Do you really think, uh, *colourful* is the word? Not, uh...Dismal," at the Buffy's face started falling she was not looking forward to him judging her, she turned her head to look at Caitlin but her sister's face as usual these days was void of much emotion.

The older sister tried to defend both of them "it wasn't that bad," she had used the wrong words because as soon as she finished the Principle looked up at her.

Principle Flutie was stuck in between annoyance and disbelief at Buffy's words, looking at both of them he stated what they both knew he was going to "you burned down the gym," he continued to look at both of them.

For the first time Caitlin decided to speak up "We did. We really did but..." Under Flutie's disapproving and annoyed stare the younger sisters eyes started to narrow in a glare but before she could continue Buffy brought back attention to her knowing her sisters hatred for judging.

"You're not seeing the big picture here," Flutie took his gaze off of Caitlin who closed her eyes trying to calm down, the grip on the arms of the chair was turning her knuckles white and she was thankful her sister had saved her before she had done anything rash. Again. "That Gym was full of Vampi..." Caitlin looked at her sister in shock; she had not really almost just said that word, Buffy stuttered slightly before lamely finishing "asbestos."

"Buffy, Caitlin don't worry," Caitlin had to hold in a snort because it was exactly what she planned to do once she got out of this god awful meeting. "Any other school they might say 'watch your step' or 'we'll be watching you' but that's just not the way here, we want to service your needs and help you to respect our needs and if your needs and our needs don't mesh..." he didn't finish the sentence but put both pieces of paper back in the files and slammed them shut "...well lots not think about that on the first day shall we," he focuses all of his attention on Caitlin which made Buffy tense in anticipation not knowing what he was going to say to her little sister. "You're only 14 and already a Sophomore" Caitlin nodded slowly not knowing what else to do, "well I hope we can accommodate your needs and most of your classes are with your sister as your mother asked for, so why don't you go collect your schedule then head to the library and collect your books," he smiled and showed them that it was the end of their conversation both nodded and rushed to the door.

"Well that went well" Caitlin muttered as she and Buffy walked out of administration office with their schedules, Buffy had both pieces and was checking how many classes they had together. Caitlin had all of the courses she wanted which she was thankful for, being smart meant she had done most of the courses they had to offer already.

Buffy shrugged at her sisters words "It didn't go to badly at least he didn't ask what happened after we burnt down the gym," Caitlin visibly tensed at her sisters words; she didn't like to remember what happened afterwards. Buffy noticed and tried to distract her so she handed her sisters schedule back to her "Most of our classes are the same bar the language you have Latin whilst I have Spanish and you don't have to do gym," Caitlin nodded. Buffy envied her sister because she got to choose all of her courses and instead of doing college courses she had wanted to do regular ones with Buffy for this year to help ease the transition. Buffy stepped further into the hallway and knocked into a girl and the contents of her bag went all over the floor, both sisters went down to pick the stuff up. They both looked up when they noticed someone helping and Caitlin noticed it was the same guy from earlier and tried to stifle a laugh.

"Can I have you?" he said and Buffy looked shocked by what he said, Caitlin tried to stop the laugh building in her throat knowing he hadn't meant to say that. Buffy's eyes were wide as the guy corrected himself "Duh! Can I help you?" A relieved short laugh came from Buffy as she thanked him; "I don't know you, do I?" he undoubtedly wanted to.

"I'm Buffy, I'm new" her reply was met with a strangely cute smile.

"Xander...is...is me. Hi" Buffy thanked him again, Xander was clearly nervous as he spoke because of the way he was speaking. Caitlin smiled, even if it didn't last long and then he turned to face her, this meant he also wanted to know her name.

"Caitlin, Buffy's sister" she allowed a small friendly to appear on her face a little longer than her last smile; he nodded at her with an equally friendly smile only larger.

"Cool...well, um, maybe I'll see you around, maybe at school since we...all...go there," Caitlin felt sorry for the poor guy with all the weird things he was saying but her sister didn't seem to feel too sorry for him as it was usual for guys to do this to her.

"Great! It was nice to meet you," Buffy replied as she finished putting everything away in her bag and started to stand up, Caitlin and Xander following soon after.

Buffy walked off but Caitlin stayed standing where she was because she wanted to see what Xander would do "'we all go to school' very Suave, very not pathetic," Caitlin's giggle interrupted his monologue and he turned to face her looking embarrassed.

Caitlin started walking but looked back at him "don't worry too much Xander it was kinda cute," Xander's jaw dropped open and Caitlin rushed to catch up with her sister who was walking slowly waiting for her.

~GU:CM~

Both sisters endured history without a text book and Buffy had made a new friend Cordelia Chase, Caitlin had spent most of the time taking notes even if she knew some of what the teacher was talking about. Cordelia was a popular kid and wanted to know everything about Buffy from school to fashion and it was annoying Caitlin but when Cordelia turned to talk to her about fashion, she saw what the teen was wearing and the glare on her face before she turned to talk to her older sister again. Caitlin's fashion was different from her sisters she just wore stuff that was comfortable and today it was skating shoes, loose jeans and a hoody. The fashion queen seemed to be interested in her hair but the glare she sent the older female had apparently scared her from asking, which she was glad for not wanting to explain the whole story behind her hair. They stopped in front of the water fountain, when Cordelia addressed someone drinking from it "Willow!," said girl looked up and Caitlin instantly took a liking to her she was innocent seeming and the red hair with emerald green eyes seemed to make her appearance friendly ."Nice dress, good to know you've seen to softer side of sears" Willow looked down at her dress.

She looked back up "oh, well, my mom picked it out," Caitlin allowed a small smile her thoughts were correct, the redhead had an aura of innocence that was rare in teenagers.

Cordelia didn't seem to like Willow and that didn't sit well with Caitlin, but she didn't speak up just in case Buffy became friends with her "No wonder you're such a guy magnet. Are you done?"

Willow looked confused for a second then realised where she was stood "oh!" she looked at the fountain then back to the three girls in front of her then she took off. Cordelia turned to face the sisters with a pleased smile on her face, Buffy looked taken back but Caitlin looked outright annoyed and took off after Willow. Willow turned to see Caitlin following her but thought nothing of it.

"Willow," the redhead stopped and waited until Caitlin was beside her before she looked at her "Hi I'm Caitlin and I'm new here," she stuck her hand out as a friendly gesture and Willow timidly shock the offered hand. "I was wondering if you could show me around," Caitlin tilted her head; Willow thought it was a cute gesture and nodded at the new girl, they started walking.

"So how's the day been so far?" Willow asked not knowing what else to say, she wasn't used to meeting new people who'd willingly talk to her.

"It's been cool so far apart from meeting miss popular that was a certain downer. I've got to go to the library and pick up some books and I hope they have a good selection to read otherwise I will be disappointed," the redhead laughed gently and looked at Caitlin who looked back at her, the redhead couldn't see any malice in the girl.

Willow looked forward for a second before looking back "Library I can do, so you like reading?" finally a topic she could talk to the blonde about, Caitlin nodded. "Well they don't have the best selection but it's interesting," Caitlin's eyes light up but she didn't allow herself to smile and the redhead saw that but didn't mention it.

"Hey back there I'm sorry for not sticking up for you but I didn't know if my sister wanted to be friends with her and I don't want to ruin it for her, she's done a lot for me lately. Gotta pay her back somehow," Caitlin looked forward not knowing what the girl beside her was going to say to her.

Willow shook her head, she was used to Cordelia "I'm used to it," Caitlin's eyebrows furrowed at that but didn't make a comment. "So that was your sister, are you twins?" she had to ask because she knew two new people were joining their grade so commonly it would be twins, plus they looked almost identical.

The younger girl laughed lightly, "No not twins" Willow looked confused so the blonde helped her out in figuring it out "she's my older sister, 2 years my senior actually I'm 2 grades ahead because of my test scores and IQ," Caitlin faced Willow again and saw the shocked look. Caitlin could tell she was a smart person herself "don't look too shocked Willow your face might freeze that way," she joked lightly trying to help her snap out of it.

"That is so cool; I've never met another person who's skipped a grade let alone two." Caitlin tilted her head again "I skipped a grade too," both smiled at each other and they eventually came to a halt in front of the library, "Well here we are, see you around?"

Caitlin looked at the double doors then back to Willow "Yeah I'd like that," she smiled and waved as Willow waved and made her way to her next class. She walked into the library and immediately saw the librarian behind the desk and approached him, he looked up from his paper shocked, maybe no one really came in here Caitlin thought, "Hi I'm new I'm looking for my class books," the man's eyes widened.

"Miss Summers?" Caitlin nodded hesitantly not knowing if people knew she had a hyphened last name "I'm Mr Giles the Librarian," she tried not to make a remark to that because he was stood behind the desk so he must have been the librarian. "I was told you were coming," again she tried to hold in the remark and again with success. "I know what you're after," he bent down slightly and put a thick book on the desk in between them and Caitlin looked shocked, Vampyr was its title and she knew what it meant.

She looked up at the older man "I think you got the wrong sister," she stepped back slightly; she didn't even want to be near that thing it had caused trouble for them back in LA.

Giles stuttered slightly "are you sure?" he didn't seem to understand he knew of a new student called Buffy summers and she seemed to fit the description.

"I'd think I was Mr Giles...I'm Caitlin Summers...Halliwell-Summers," she stammered out in her nervous state. It meant this guy was her sister's new watcher and that was not a good thing, her sister would have to start slaying and it could ruin everything, yet again.

Giles put the book back and looked at Buffy's sister "she has a twin?" he asked sounding perplexed and he saw the girl shake her head. So she was a younger sibling "how did you know I had to wrong sister?" he was more curious about her knowledge now.

"Because it's the reason we are here... can you just get my class books please," Giles nodded and proceeded to give the girl her books and handed them to her. "Thank you Mr Giles it was a pleasure to meet your acquaintance," with that the young blonde turned and rushed out of the library.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin put her books in her locker, which had taken her awhile to find and she was glad for that as it gave her time to cool off, Buffy would be pissed off and devastated when she went to the library. Caitlin closed her locker and rested her head against it, the cool metal feeling nice against her skin, Willow spotted the 14 year old as she entered the hallway and quickly made her way over to her. "Caitlin, hi," her perky voice welcome to the blondes ears as it was much better than her thoughts, Caitlin turned to face her and raised her hand in greeting but didn't speak, "so I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch together?" Willows question was innocent but Caitlin wanted to play on it a little.

"Willow isn't a bit early to be asking me on a date?" she questioned seriously her face remaining blank apart from the raised brow. Willow blushed and tried to talk but words wouldn't come out. Caitlin laughed and patted Willow on the shoulder "I'm just messing Willow I'd love to have lunch with you," Willow, still reddened, nodded and walked out of the hallway into a little courtyard and sat down, Caitlin sat next to her and they both grabbed their lunches.

Buffy noticed Willow and her sister as she walked out of the building and approached them "Uh, hi Willow right?" Buffy smiled at her sister whose lip twitched showing she wanted to smile back.

Willow was startled as she looked up and said the first thing that came to mind "Why?" Buffy looked taken back slightly so Willow amended her statement "I...I mean, hi. Did you want me to move?" Caitlin frowned at Willows question so she obviously was used to people telling her too move and she didn't like that one bit.

"Why don't we start with 'Hi I'm Buffy'? And lets Segue directly into me asking you for a favour, It involves hanging out with me as well for a while," Buffy sat next to her sister and leant into her slightly. This was something they always did in close proximity it showed support and comfort if needed, they developed it at an early age and until recently had stopped doing it. Willow knew Caitlin wanted to be her friend that much was obvious with the teasing and her following her after Cordelia's comments but she couldn't be too sure about Buffy.

Willow shuffled in her seat slightly, she was not used to people seeking her out to hang out "But aren't you hanging out with Cordelia?" Caitlin looked at her sister and nodded wanting to know the same thing, she would be glad if she didn't because Cordelia was too much like Buffy's old friends and she hated them for good reason.

The older female looked confused, being popular had meant she could do what she wanted and this was different "Can't I do both?" she looked between her sister and her sisters soon-to-be new friend.

Caitlin took this one knowing her sister was confused, back in Hemery they had different clicks and knew Buffy had been the popular kid "Not legally," she joked dryly electing a laugh from Willow and a pout from Buffy who smiled eventually.

"Look, I really wanna get by here, new school and Cordelia's been really nice...to me, anyway but, um, I have this burning desire not to flunk all my classes and...I heard you were the one to help me catch up because unlike my brainy sister I don't already know all this stuff," Buffy smiled as she grabbed her lunch. Caitlin nudged her shoulder slightly showing she could help but Buffy nudged her back effectively telling her she wanted to make friends with Willow too.

Willow seemed excited with helping Buffy out "I could totally help you out!" her eyes lightened with the challenge it seemed "If you have sixth period free, we could meet in the library," neither let it show but they leant a little bit more into each other and they seemed to get the message to each other they both knew about the watcher.

"Or not," Buffy quickly said, she didn't want to go back in their not with her normal life hanging in the balance, Willows face fell.

At seeing the look on Willows face Caitlin quickly stepped in "How about somewhere quieter... Louder even, Library's give Buffy the creeps," she leant forward as to whisper something in Willows ear "Too many words, she's afraid of knowledge because it could make her smart," Willow giggled slightly and Buffy playfully pushed her sister having heard that but was thankful for the save.

"Place gives me the wiggins," she shrugged apologetically but Willow seemed to understand.

"It has that effect on most kids. I love it though and apparently so does your sister, it's a great collection, and the new librarian is really cool," Willow continued to smile unaware of the effects of her words on the sisters.

"He's new?" Caitlin queried quickly sensing something amiss with that, he must have been sent here for Buffy then.

"Yeah, he just started," she didn't see anything wrong with that but how could she didn't know what his real occupation was. "He was a curator at a British Museum or _the_ British Museum I'm not sure but he knows everything. He brought all these historical volumes and biographies and am I the single most dullest person alive?"

Caitlin couldn't help but smile at the babble the redhead had just done, she seemed to like Mr Giles and her appreciation for knowledge was refreshing for the teenager seeing as most kids hated it "Not at all," Buffy nodded in agreement but Caitlin wasn't too sure why it wasn't dull for her but then her sister did surprise her, sometimes.

Two guys approached the bench where they were sat and Caitlin recognised one of them as Xander but the other guy she wasn't familiar with "Hey you guys busy? Are we interrupting? We're interrupting," Xander sat on the wall behind the three girls and put his feet on the bench whereas the unnamed male stood in front of them.

"Hey," Buffy and Caitlin greeted at the same time, so maybe they could understand how they were mistook for twins.

"Hey there," the unknown male responded not in the least but phased

Willow followed up by making the introductions "Buffy, Caitlin this is Jesse and that is Xander."

"Oh Me, Caitlin and Buffy go way back old friends, very close," Buffy looked at him whilst Caitlin just ate her lunch knowing that her comment still played on his mind as he spoke to her sister and if she looked she would probably laugh but not in a mean way. "Then that period of estrangement, where I think we were all growing as people but now here we are like old times. I'm quiet moved." He finished and Buffy nodded at first not knowing what to say, she wasn't used to jokers other than her sister whose humour was mainly dry and sarcastic.

"Is it me or are you turning into a bibbling Idiot?" Jesse replied and everyone turned to face him.

Xander didn't know what was up with him but he knew he sounded lame and idiotic "No, it's uh not you," he looked confused and had a lost puppy look on his face.

"Well it's nice to meet you guys I think," Jesses sat down as Buffy spoke; Caitlin nodded not knowing what else to say and lately not one for words. Xander jumped over the bench to be on the other side near Jesse.

Jesse got out his lunch as he spoke "We wanted to welcome you, make you feel at home, unless you have a scary home." Buffy glanced slyly at her sister but didn't notice any tensing so she smiled at the boy, who seemed just as strange as Xander only he didn't babble.

Xander searched his bag and pulled out what he had found on the floor earlier "And to return this," both blondes' eyes bulged out at seeing the stake in his hand, Buffy knew she had to come up with an excuse and fast "The only thing I can think is that you're building a really little fence."

The older summers quickly grabbed the stake and fumbled out an excuse "uh...no, um...It was for self-defence. Everyone has them in LA Pepper spray is just so passé," Caitlin looked bewildered by her sister's excuse knowing it was positively lame, she also wondered how her sister knew that word.

Xander started to talk to Buffy so Caitlin turned to Willow who was being left out "So you have sixth free...want to help me catch up too, like Buffy said I know stuff but It's kinda knowing which stuff to know," she took a bite of her sandwich and waited for Willow to answer.

Willow chewed quickly having just taken a bite when the younger girl asked her the question, she had decided meeting new people was fun but was in no rush to do it again because the sisters seemed cool enough. "I'd be happy to help you catch up to, but to where we are now or ahead?" it was a geeky question but she wanted to know the extent of Caitlin's preferences.

"Ahead would be good you know less revision for exams and plus I don't think I've got anything better to do other than unpack," she kept her voice light so Willow knew she wanted to be ahead for the sake of it and maybe because of interest which was good because then she could discuss things with someone from now on.

"Are these guys bothering you?" everyone turned to see Cordelia looking at Buffy, she had decided Caitlin was a lost cause and didn't care what she did.

"Uh, No" Buffy answered simply, not understanding the look of horror splayed across Cordelia's face. A year ago that would have been the look on Buffy's face as well but the blonde didn't seem to register that.

Willow quickly spoke, she clearly babbled when nervous "She's not hanging out with us," shaking her head as she spoke. Caitlin tuned the rest of the conversation out looking at Willow's down cast eyes, she nudged the older girl as Cordelia spoke to her sister and when Willow looked up she smiled a small smile at her and got one in return. Her head snapped up at the mention of a dead guy.

"What?" Buffy said shocked that someone was found dead on her first day and the first thing she thought of was vampire and it seemed to mirror Caitlin's thoughts too.

"What are you talking about?" Willow seemed to regain some of her confidence when she spoke

"Some guy was stuffed in Aura's locker," she kept her gaze on Buffy as she spoke as if looking at anyone else would turn her into a loser

"Dead?" Caitlin repeated she didn't want it to be supernatural not after what happened back in Hemery she honestly didn't want to burn down another gym and end up...

"Totally dead. Way dead" Cordelia interrupted Caitlin's chain of thought and the young teen could almost kiss the popular kid.

"Not just a little dead?" Xander's remark was sarcastic drawing Cordelia's attention

"Don't you have an elsewhere to be?" she replied looking disgusted to even be talking to him. Caitlin's eyes glazed over as Buffy tried to get information from Cordelia, a part of her didn't want to get involved but if her sister was in trouble then she would help.

Buffy noticed her sisters state and decided to go check it out "I gotta book, I'll...I'll see you guys later," she picked her stuff up and leant down to her sisters ear "Don't worry," Caitlin nodded and Buffy stroked her hand over her sisters messy hair and walked off. Caitlin continued to eat her lunch, Jesse and Xander chatted away happily but Willow noticed the glazed look in Caitlin's eyes but didn't mention it because she didn't know what it was about.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin sighed in relief the school day was over and now she could go pick up the Tasmanian devil and head home to help her 10 year old sister unpack, she saw willow approaching her "Want company walking home?" Caitlin smiled at Willow's thoughtfulness even if the older girl didn't know where she lived.

"It would be appreciated but I'm on pick up duty...Gotta go pick the baby sis up from elementary and I don't know which way you live so I don't want to disrupt the flow," both walked out of the main doors and headed down the steps until they reached the street. Caitlin turned to face Willow "How about I ask my sister if she wants to meet you and maybe you could pick her up with me...maybe?" Dawn had always wanted to hang out with her friends but her friends back in LA were not child friendly at all but Willow would be good for Dawn, if they became friends.

Willow nodded "That would be cool," she wouldn't mind meeting the youngest Summers because it meant meeting someone new and the prospect of helping a child learn was making her excited, both teens said their goodbyes and headed in different directions.

Caitlin arrived at her sister's school about 10 minutes later and she spotted Dawn waiting at the bottom of the steps she was on her own but she was waving to a car so she assumed her baby sister had made a friend and they left already. The older sister made her way over to her younger sister and Dawn's face light up as she saw Caitlin approaching. Dawn got on better with Caitlin then she did Buffy for a few simple reasons, such as Caitlin didn't mind sharing her stuff with her and always made time for her, even if she was going to hang out with her friends. Whereas Buffy could never do that, she felt her stuff was too expensive to lend to her baby sister and her friends came first. Dawn knew about Buffy being the slayer simply because she caught the two of them sneaking in and out at all hours, so they had to explain it to her and they were pleased to find their little sister just wanted to be in on the secret. Caitlin knew Dawn didn't know about her actually being her half-sister and it never occurred to her to find out her sisters last name, as it always was Summers when Hank was around as he hated the hyphened version not liking to think she was someone else's and the 10 year old didn't know what happened for them to be kicked out of school either. Caitlin sat next to her sister and nudged her with her shoulder "Good day Taz?"

Dawn nodded vigorously "I met some new people and a girl named Janice helped me get everything I needed and let me hang out with her and her friends, plus the teachers are super nice." Dawn stood up and went to grab her bag but Caitlin slung it over her shoulder as she stood up leaving Dawn with nothing to carry but it suited the young girl fine. Caitlin put her arm over her sister's shoulder bringing her closer to her side and again Dawn didn't mind, she liked the contact "Did you make any friends?" she looked up to see her sister looking forward.

Caitlin looked down when she felt eyes on her "Yeah I met a few new people and only one person so far struck me a friend material, she's...kinda geeky but not in an in your face sort of way," Caitlin explained as she looked back up.

"How'd you met her?" Dawn was surprised her sister wanted to hang out with a geek even if she was a nerd herself; her last friends were far from geeky and usually skipped school altogether and she had heard rumours they took drugs and used free time to have sex and break the law. She knew her sister had never been arrested but she didn't know what her sister got up to and some part of her was afraid to find out.

Caitlin let out a small laugh "Buff met a new friend the popular kind and when Cordelia, the popular kid, saw Willow, geeky kid, she started insulting her clothing and Willow is kinda innocent and Cordelia dug her claws into that as well...so I followed Willow leaving Buffy to her new friend and we talked...she's nice you might like her and she's only a year older than me 'cause she skipped a grade, would you like to meet her sometime?" Dawn nodded with a huge grin and looked forward again. They walked in silence for a few blocks until they turned down their road "Race ya home," with that Dawn ran off knowing Caitlin said that but would give her a head start. Counting to ten Caitlin allowed Dawn to get some distance on her then ran after her sister and easily caught up and arrived home half a minute before Dawn did, "C'mon slowpoke let's get your room sorted," Caitlin opened the door and immediately started up the stairs, Dawn closed the door then followed her sister to her room.

~GU:CM~

The Teenaged Summers girls were in Buffy's room looking for an outfit for the girl to wear to the Bronze, Buffy picked up two dresses and they were both to the extreme one was leather and the other was a flowery summer dress. Buffy held the first dress up in front of her and looked in the mirror "Hi! I'm an enormous slut," she smiled as she heard the rare laughter coming from her sister's mouth; she switched dressed "Hello. Would you like a copy of 'The Watchtower'?" Caitlin continued to laugh. Buffy turned to look at the younger girl occupying her bed "I used to be so good at this," she moped to her and the laughing died down until it stopped but the mirth remained in the identical green eyes.

Joyce entered Buffy's room having heard the laughter drifting from it, she smiled at how comfortable Caitlin seemed in the new town and the new house because after the incident she would never relax for more than a second and even her sleep was short "Hi girls" she greeted and both replied "hey" cheerfully. Joyce set the laundry basket down on a chair in the room and proceeded to retrieve her oldest daughter's clean washing, "Are you going out tonight?" she asked Buffy having seen her with both dressed.

"Yeah we're going to a club," Buffy replied absent-mindedly.

"Oh. Will there be boys there?" Joyce asked sounding slightly suspicious of this club Buffy was going to, what she didn't know was that Caitlin would be joining her sister for some much needed dancing to help her relax more.

"No Mom, it's a nun club," Caitlin said back with a straight face but it was clear she was joking and Buffy snorted with laughter at seeing their moms face.

Joyce rolled her eyes at Caitlin's humour and continued to talk to Buffy "Well...just be careful."

Buffy and Caitlin nodded "We will," they replied simultaneously but seemed unaffected by this as it happened too often for them to be shocked anymore.

"Wait, we?" Joyce asked sounded confused, she thought it was just Buffy going but now Caitlin was too, it would be the first time Caitlin wanted to go out since everything back in LA.

"Yeah hoping Willow will be there," Caitlin nodded her head agreeing with her own plan; Joyce knew who Willow was because they had talked about their days during dinner earlier.

Joyce's smile was filled with that of hope "You know I think we can make it work here, I've got my positive energy flowing," she finished with Buffy's clothing and came to stand by the bed and lifted her hand to play with Caitlin's stylishly messy hair. "I'm gonna get the gallery on its feet," Buffy paid attention to her mother as she carried on trying to find an outfit, Caitlin knew what she wanted but was waiting for Buffy's seal of approval on it before she changed "We may have found a space today."

"That's great," Buffy smiled at her mother before turning back around to search her clothing again, she spent a good hour getting ready usually and most of that time was deciding what to wear and what shoes went with the outfit.

"That school is a very nurturing environment, which is what you both need," Caitlin just nodded knowing her mother was on her nurturing issue, does she enough or not enough so she left her mother too it.

"Well, actually..." Buffy started to speak but Joyce cut her off anticipating what Buffy was going to say even if it was totally different from what the blonde had in mind.

Joyce stopped playing with Caitlin's hair because she didn't want to ruin it too much "Oh, not too nurturing. I know you're both teenagers. I've read all about the dangers of over-nurturing," Buffy approached the bed where she lead her outfit for the night out and looked at her mother who continued to talk, "It's hard, a new town and everything. It is for me too," Both girls nodded seriously both by the tone in their mothers voice and knowing it was true. "I'm trying to make it work, I'm _going_ to make it work," she grabbed a hand from each girl in her hands; they both replied that they knew "You're good girls, you just fell in with the wrong crowd. But that is all behind us now," she looked hopeful and proud.

"It is from now on. I'm only going to hang out with the living," Joyce looked confused by what Buffy said and Caitlin nudged her sister with her foot for her to correct the sentence, Buffy grabbed her clothing "I mean lively...people."

Joyce looked appeased by the correction and wished them a good night and left the room "gees Buff give it out easily or what, that's like four times today," the younger teen mocked as Buffy started to get dressed. Caitlin got up and made her way to her room and sat down next to her outfit which consisted of tight black hipsters, a black tank top, a white shirt and a fitted leather jacket and she decided to wear her boots with the outfit and after her sister approved of the choice she got ready in a matter of minutes.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin was not pleased, she was looking at her sister and some random guy that had followed them talking, he had admitted he was a vampire by joking about not biting. They had been talking for a few seconds and she already didn't like him, before he left he gave her a present which intrigued her so she approached and looked over her sister shoulder, Buffy opened it and saw a silver cross "The cocky bastard knows who you are sis," Caitlin commented as she watched the guy disappear into the night.

"Yeah I guess he does," Buffy put the cross back and put the box in her pocket, "C'mon lets go" she turned and headed towards the Bronze, Caitlin obediently followed her sister and before long they were approaching the Bronze "You sure you want to go?" Buffy asked her sister a final time needing to know that she was positive, Caitlin rolled her eyes in annoyance but nodded nonetheless. They paid to get in and Caitlin immediately started bouncing her head to the song, she looked around not paying attention to her sister for a while until Buffy tugged on her arm slightly and pointed over to the bar. Arriving there they saw Willow sat on her own so they flanked her sides, "Hey."

"Oh, hi. Hi"

"Are you here with someone?" Caitlin asked as she sat down, if she was they didn't want to disturb her.

"No. I'm just here, I thought Xander was gonna show up," Willow looked slightly nervous glancing at everyplace that herself and Buffy were looking, Buffy and Caitlin ordered their drinks.

"Oh! Are you guys going out?" Buffy seemed excited with relationship talk, it had been a couple of months since her last boy and wanted the down low on Willow's relationship, Caitlin gave Buffy a knowing glance but her sister pointedly ignored her.

"No, we're just friends. We used to go out, but we broke up," Willow replied looking down at her drink and then back up at Buffy.

"How come?" Buffy picked up her recently delivered drink and started to take a few sips

"He stole my Barbie," Caitlin couldn't help but laugh at that because it was so immature and it had to have happened a while ago, she was glad she hadn't been drinking "Oh we were five," Buffy's face turned understanding, Caitlin picked up her glass and started to drink. "I don't actually date a whole lot...lately," Caitlin could see where this was headed and she wanted out, she had only ever had one boyfriend and she was not willing to discuss it. Caitlin signalled to the dance floor getting a nod from her sister so she got up and left, she wanted a release and this is how she got it by dancing even if it was a little moshing and she was glad she left her drink with her sister.

After the song she felt relaxed and made her way back to where she left her drink and her sister only to notice Willow was on her own, "Hey where's Buffy?" she asked as she sat down, Willow looked surprised she had eve returned, Caitlin downed her drink and sighed feeling refreshed.

"Oh, she said she would be back," Willow turned to face Caitlin fully, "Do you know Buffy's Philosophy" Caitlin nodded knowing it very well seeing as it often got her in trouble "Do you believe in it?"

"I guess I do I mean if you live in the past you aren't gonna get anywhere but too much 'moment' can get you in trouble trust me," she turned to look over at the dance floor, "Dancing is a good way to live in the moment, you don't have to worry just feel the music that's how I live in the moment," she titled her head to look at Willow and smiled.

Willow could tell Caitlin enjoyed dancing simply by the way she spoke about it, and was shocked when Caitlin grabbed her hand and tugged her up "What are you doing?" Willow didn't want to know the answer but asked anyways.

"I'm taking you to the dance floor, and if you don't feel comfortable just stand to the side and watch how people do it until you do," Caitlin released her hand and headed to the middle where she let loose and danced to her heart's content, loosing track of time. Caitlin noticed Buffy rushing past her moments later and followed her "Buff what's up?"

"Vampire took Willow," she didn't need to say anymore and both of them felt an overwhelming guilt settle on their chest knowing it was partly their fault she had been taken. As they left the Bronze they walked into Xander.

"Leaving already?" the young man asked.

"Xander, have you seen Willow?" Caitlin asked quickly, she needed to know that the redhead was alright and that it wasn't her fault she was taken.

"Not tonight, no." Xander didn't seem too concerned but then again he didn't know Willow had gone off with a vampire to become its next snack.

"She left with a guy," Buffy started but Xander interrupted her

"We're talking about Willow? Scoring at the Bronze! Work it, girl," he was pleased for his friend; she was cute and was glad she could pick up men.

"No, I need to find her. Where would he take her?" Buffy was in a desperate rush, her thoughts similar to that of her sisters, if Willow died it would be her fault for giving Willow that advice.

"Why? Oh, hey I hope he's not a vampire, because then you might have to slay him," Xander was clearly trying to be funny but both sisters looked back at him as they had just started to walk off to find Willow.

"Was there...a school bulletin, was it in the newspaper? Is there anyone in this town who doesn't know I'm the slayer?" Buffy started to rant, her secret was out and she wasn't happy about it and after the mystery guy and Giles her tolerance level was well below normal

"I know you *think* you're the slayer and the reason why..." Xander wanted to tell them how he had discovered about Buffy being a slayer.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter. Just tell us where would Willow go?" Caitlin interrupted Xander before he could make any crazy comments or witty remarks time was of the essence and they were seriously wasting time.

"You're serious" Xander looked between both sisters in astonishment; he thought it was some stupid fantasy but they were way too serious for it to be that.

"We don't find her, and there's gonna be one more dead body in the morning," Buffy leant in towards him and peered up at him, her game face was on and she had little time to use pleasantries or soften the blow, they need to get Willow and they needed to get to her now.

"Uh...um probably the ice cream shop" Caitlin and Buffy both grabbed him and dragged him with them.

"Lead the way" Buffy said as they let him go on the main street and Xander quickly took off in the right direction, Buffy and Caitlin were quick to follow.

~GU:CM~

"Buffy!" Caitlin called as she stopped by the Cemetery, if the guy was a vampire then this is where he would take her, "They're probably in here" she said pointing in the cemeteries direction, Buffy jogged to where he sister was and saw her pointing in the vampires resting place and nodded. They all started to rush through looking for signs of Willow or the vampire.

They all turned when they heard a feminine scream and rushed over to a mausoleum "Both of you stay behind me," Caitlin looked like she was about to shake her head but this wasn't both of them this time it was other people who could get hurt so she agreed, they entered the tomb in a hast and saw Willow and Jesse in the corner with two vampires in front of them, "Well...this is nice, it's a little bare, but...a dash of paint...a few throw pillows...call it home!" Buffy had effectively gotten their attention and walked further into the mausoleum

"Who the hell are you?" the female vampire asked as she watched Buffy walk around, you could hear the annoyance in her voice even if you couldn't see it on her face.

"You mean there's actually someone in this town who *doesn't* know already? Phew that's a relief. I'm telling you having a secret identity in this town is a job of work," the teen was mocking them but you could hear some sort of relief in her voice which had Caitlin rolling her eyes, her sister was such a drama queen.

"Buffy we bail now right," Xander asked looking at the scene in front of him and he wanted to be gone as quickly as possible and he wanted to get going now.

"Not yet," the male vampire was curt and barely took his attention off of Buffy whilst answered Xander

"Ok, first of all, what's with the outfit? Live in the now OK? You look like DeBarge," Buffy was full on fashion rant and looking in between both vampires trying not to look disgusted, everyone else looked quiet shocked she was giving a vampire fashion advise seeing as he wanted to kill all of them "Now, we can do this the hard way or... well, actually, there's just the hard way" she focused on the female sensing that she was the stronger one of the two and more dangerous.

"That's fine with me," came the cocky reply, she wanted to play with her food and the new girl was proving to be fascinating

"Are you sure? Now this is not gonna be pretty. We're talking violence, strong language, adult content..." the male lunged and Buffy's back and she quickly staked him, not looking bothered by it "see what happens when you roughhouse?" her voice was condescending and taunting, Caitlin didn't think it was smart to mock them but let her sister get on with it.

"He was young and stupid," the female looked shocked but kept her ground as she mainly defended herself and showing she was indeed stronger as well as older.

"Xander, Caitlin Go!" Caitlin rushed over to Willow as her sister and the blonde vampire engaged in fighting, she helped the redhead up and then helped Xander with Jesse then hurried out of there before more vampires came

"Don't go far," the voice echoed out behind them and it wasn't Buffy's voice but it seemed to panic the other three whereas it made Caitlin want to stake the vampire herself

"We'll get the police! It's just a few blocks up!" Willow said as she ran along with the other three, she clearly wasn't used to vampires it seemed.

"Not going to help Willow," Caitlin said as she tightened her hold on the weakened Jesse, he was suffering from light-headedness due to the blood loss but they were lucky he could still walk, suddenly all four of them stopped as they saw lots of vampires in front of them "this is not good," Caitlin remarked as the vampires came at them.

* * *

><p><strong>Please tell me how you found it, I have debated not putting this story up at all because I'm not sure what people will think about it.<strong>

**\Silver-Eternal-Dragon/**


	2. Chapter 2

**Previously on GU:CM**

"Don't go far," the voice echoed out behind them and it wasn't Buffy's voice but it seemed to panic the other three whereas it made Caitlin want to stake the vampire herself

"We'll get the police! It's just a few blocks up!" Willow said as she ran along with the other three, she clearly wasn't used to vampires it seemed.

"Not going to help Willow," Caitlin said as she tightened her hold on the weakened Jesse, he was suffering from light-headedness due to the blood loss but they were lucky he could still walk, suddenly all four of them stopped as they saw lots of vampires in front of them "this is not good," Caitlin remarked as the vampires came at them.

~GU:CM~

The Harvest

With more vampires than people they were easily split up, Caitlin had two vampires facing her and a part of her was panicking because without slayer strength this wouldn't be easy. The female lunged at her first and got her down to the ground but Caitlin was able to get the stake out of her jacket before they hit the ground. The initial impact caused the vampire to jolt forward effectively ramming the stake through her heart, the dust settled around and on Caitlin making the teenager cough as she sat up. The other vampire couldn't believe his eyes, his partner had just been staked by a mere human so he shot forward and pinned the girl on her back "I'm sorry but I don't find you attractive," Caitlin mocked as she felt the cold breath on her neck. She managed to manoeuvre her leg up to the vampire's chest and pushed up making him loose his balance, it gave her time to throw him over her head. Caitlin needed to catch her breath, after being slammed to the ground twice and using most of her strength to overbalance the vampire had left her breathless but the break was short lived as the vampire was back on top of her quickly. This time the vampire held her hands away from her body and used his legs to pin hers to the floor, effectively pinning her to the floor, but not to be outdone Caitlin propelled her head forward connecting with the vampires. The blow to the head made him grab his head in pain, then seeing her opportunity she plunged the stake into his heart dusting another vampire and getting dusty for the trouble. Caitlin got to her feet and heard her name being shouted by her sister and made her way over to where the voice sounded from and saw Xander, Willow and Buffy stood there.

"Oh thank god," Buffy rushed forward and hugged Caitlin tightly who, was feeling sore from the two impacts with the ground and her sister tight hold, groaned in discomfort. Buffy heard and pulled out to look her sister over "Did they hurt you, Xander said he saw two go after you?" Buffy brushed her hand over her sister and noticed she was covered in dust, "Here I am worrying and you dusted a vampire," Buffy sounded annoyed but her face showed relief and pride.

"Nuh-huh I got two of them," Caitlin held up two fingers with a proud grin "First one slammed me into the ground but got herself staked by my stake...idiot," Buffy nodded holding back laughter at Caitlin's partially annoyed face, "Second one again slammed me to the floor, I managed to flip him off of me but he just came back. I had to head butt him so my back hurts and so does my head," Buffy wrapped her arm around her sisters waist and Caitlin leant against her.

Willow came over "I'm glad you're okay," she said smiling gently, Caitlin leant her head against her sisters and nodded at Willow, not wanting to tell her how sore she was feeling because they didn't need to scare either of them more.

Caitlin frowned, Jesses was missing "Where's Jesse?" she asked but from the look on the two faces she could see he had been taken.

"The chick from the mausoleum took him," Xander mumbled looking at the two blondes in front of him, he was glad they were here or Willow would have been gone too, Xander put his arm over Willows shoulder, "I'm glad you're okay."

Willow couldn't help but agree "If it weren't for those two I wouldn't be," she said as she looked over the two blondes, she couldn't help but notice the identical looks of guilt "It's not your fault guys," the two blondes shrugged but don't say anything.

"Let's head home there's nothing else we can do tonight, we need to know where they are held up" Buffy with Caitlin still leaning against her makes her way out of the graveyard and to wherever Xander and Willow live.

~GU:CM~

The next morning they all found themselves in the library, they had told Giles what happened after what he saw at the Bronze and when he heard Caitlin had gotten rid of two vampires herself he stared at her and the gaze was judging. Buffy was going to say something but Caitlin beat her to it "Have you got a problem Mr Watcher? Is it because I help Buffy because I know Merrick didn't like it and if you have a problem then you can shove it," her tone was biting and guarded, the words broke Giles out of his trance.

Giles took off his glasses and rubbed them "No I was wondering how you managed it but now isn't Important," he put his glasses back on and headed to the stacks to pick up the book her had put down earlier. "This world is older than any of you know. Contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold aeons Demons walked the earth, they made it their home, their uh their hell," as he spoke he picked other books up and added it to the pile growing in his arms. Caitlin was familiar with what he was talking about having read it in an ancient book she found at a book store in LA "But in time they lost their purchase on this reality, the way was made for mortal animal for...for man, all that remains of the old ones...are vestiges," he finally ended up back at the table the other four occupied "Certain magics, Certain creatures."

Willow and Caitlin were sat down next to each other; Caitlin sat up straight because slouching hurt her back. Xander stood by the few stairs that led to the stacks and Buffy stood behind her sister with an ice pack held to her elbow "And vampires," Buffy added as Giles put the book down and got a nod from Giles.

"This is where I have a problem," Xander stopped leaning and walked closer to the table in the centre of the library, near Giles "See, because we're talking about vampires. We're having a talk with vampires in it," Xander looked at everyone in the room in denial.

"Isn't that what we saw last night?" the redhead questioned, she didn't think it was logical for vampires to exist but what she saw last night was proof enough for her that something beyond normal existed.

Buffy came in with a helpful response after seeing the other two's distress, trying to be helpful "No, those weren't vampires, those were just guys in need of a facial or maybe they had rabies," Xander didn't look like he was believing her and neither did Willow.

Caitlin joined her sister but her words were pure sarcasm "And that guy turning to dust? Just a trick of light," Buffy and Giles shot Caitlin a look but the youngest occupant in the library didn't care she was in a bad mood.

Buffy sighed knowing that the other two needed to believe vampires were real "That's what I said the first time I saw a vampire, well after I was done with the screaming part," Willow looked a little pale at the information.

"Oh, I...I need to sit down," Willow wasn't thinking clearly all she could think was that vampires were real and that she had almost been eaten by one.

"You are sitting down," Buffy replied a little slower than she had just been speaking as she was looking down at Willow.

Willow continued to stare in front of her looking pale "Oh! Good for me," her usual excitement wasn't in her voice and if Caitlin wasn't so mopey then she would be worried .

"So, vampires are demons?" Xander's questioned looking at the three girls in front of him

"The books tell that the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human mixed their blood, he was a... a human form possessed infected with the demons soul," Giles handed Xander the book so he could see what they were truly dealing with. "He bit another and another and so they walked the Earth, feeding, killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out and the Old ones to return."

"And a Slayer was created to help fight off the demons in this world, to try and stop them feeding and changing," Caitlin spoke up as she looked at the table in front of her, not meeting anyone's eyes because she knew all about how the slayer was created, she had stolen Merrick's book about it.

"A what?" Xander asked looking down at Caitlin with the book still open in his hand, he had heard what she said but to him it meant nothing only sounded like a code name for something.

"For as long as there have been vampires, there's been the slayer. One girl in all the world, a chosen one," Xander turned to face the older male as he spoke, the guy seemed to know a lot on the subject and Xander wanted to know some of it.

"He loves doing this part," Buffy chimed in knowing the story off by heart by now, her former watcher had drilled it into her head and by doing so also her sisters head. Buffy also wanted Giles to not tell the story again.

"All right," Giles got the hint it seemed "The slayer hunts vampires. Buffy is a slayer. Don't tell anyone, that's all the vampire information you need."

"Except for one thing how to kill them," Xander spoke up after Giles had finished, hey if vampires existed he wanted to know how to kill them just to be safer.

"A stake through the heart, decapitation, fire and sunlight...oh and crosses repel them," Caitlin replied to Xander, he wanted to know so she was going to tell them because the more information they had the better their hoped of staying alive.

Buffy quickly intercepted "You don't. I do," she didn't need anyone else to try and hunt vampires, sometimes she left Caitlin at home when she went slaying just because she didn't want her to go fearing for her safety and Caitlin knew how to kill them quite well. So she certainly didn't want Willow and Xander trying to stake a vampire.

Xander didn't seem happy with that "Jesse's my..."

Buffy cut him off knowing what he was going to say "Jesse is my responsibility. I let him get taken," everyone could see the oldest blonde was beating herself up about it.

"That's not true," Caitlin said as she finally made eye contact, she didn't want her sister taking the blame for something she had no control over. Caitlin was glad her sister was willing take responsibility for things that were her fault but this was not one of them if anyone let him get taken technically it was her she was with the other three when they had been attacked but she dare not voice it.

"If you hadn't shown up, they would have taken us, too. Does anybody mind if I pass out?" Willow didn't look any better and the thought of being trapped with the vampires made her feel sick to her stomach and she was thankful Buffy had turned up.

Caitlin and Buffy both put a hand on the girls shoulder, Caitlin leant in to get a better look at Willow "Breathe," she said simply seeing as the girl didn't appear to be doing that at the moment.

"Breathe," Willow repeated taking in a deep breath then releasing it.

"Breathe. This big guy Luke, he talked about an offering to the master. I don't know what or who, but if they weren't just feeding, Jesse may be alive. I'll find him." Buffy walked forward and placed a hand on her hip, she looked ready for action and for either of the guys in front of her to put up a fight.

"This may be a dumb question but shouldn't we call the police?" Willow nervously looked up at Buffy; she remembered Caitlin saying something about it but couldn't remember what the younger girl had said.

"And they'd believe us, of course," Giles commented sarcastically, he noticed the glare Caitlin was sending him and turned around.

"We don't have to say vampires, we...could just say there's a...a bad man," Willows innocence came through and Caitlin's glare softens slightly as she leans back against the chair, her back making her uncomfortable.

Buffy came to stand behind Willows chair and bent down slightly "They couldn't handle it, and even if they did show up they'd only come with guns," she wasn't patronising like Giles but explained it to her simply with no condescendence in her voice.

"You have no idea where they took Jesse?" Giles turned around now that the stupid idea of involving the police was out of the way.

"I looked around but as soon as they got clear of the graveyard they could have just...voom!" Buffy answered her watchers question from where she still was leaning against Willow's chair.

"They can fly?" came the response from the surprised young male; he looked shocked when Caitlin burst out laughing. Buffy raised a brow at her sisters sudden hysterical laughing but happy to see her laughing again.

"They can drive," Caitlin managed to get out whilst laughing, Xander looked embarrassed but he didn't know that they couldn't turn into bats. Caitlin wiped the tears gathering in her eyes and sat up again but flinched in pain, "Ow," she got out through gritted teeth.

Buffy rushed to her sister's side "Are you okay?" she put her ice back at the bottom of her sisters back and held it there, she didn't like seeing Caitlin injured especially when it came because of her calling, this wouldn't be the first injury the younger Summers got but it certainly won't be the last.

Caitlin tried to smile but it came out a grimace "Yeah just a bit sore," she said even if it was clear she was in more pain than just being sore.

"Are you sure?" Willow asked shyly not wanting the girl to snap at her, she didn't know if Caitlin hated being asked a question more than once, she sighed in relief when Caitlin looked at her with soft eyes and nodded showing she would get through the day "I don't remember hearing a car," Buffy stood up and looked at Willow, she didn't remember hearing a car either so it meant they were still at the cemetery.

"Let's take an enormous intuitive leap and say they went underground," Giles said as he re-joined the conversation.

"Vampires really jam on sewer systems. You can get anywhere in the entire town without catching rays. But I didn't see any access around there," Buffy looked frustrated about the fact she couldn't figure these vampires out.

"Well there's an electrical tunnel runs under the whole town," Xander informed the frustrated blonde.

Giles seemed intrigued by the idea and jumped on board "If we have a diagnostic of the tunnel system, it might indicate a meeting place...I suppose we could go to the building commission."

"We *so*don't have time," Caitlin said as she thought about the long process of going to the building then discussing why they needed the plans and how they would get there, her head started to hurt more.

"Uh, Guys? There may be another way," Willow leant forward and everyone turned to face her waiting for her to clarify, with the attention she blushed. "I could just get into the commission mainframe and get the blueprints," she shrugged trying to downplay the actual seriousness of what she could do.

"You hack?" Caitlin whispered, Willow looked at her with a smile telling the younger teen that she did and Caitlin burst into a massive grin "That is *so* cool!" she exclaimed and everyone looked at her as if she had lost her mind. Caitlin coughed in embarrassment "Well excuse me for being an excitable 14 year old but I've never met a hacker," she defended herself in a low grumble and with Willow and Buffy close enough to hear the redhead beamed and the blonde giggled at her sister because she found the weirdest things cool. Caitlin watched as Willow hacked into the building commission's records and brought up the blueprints for the town, she needed to get up and move around because her back was absolutely killing her. Caitlin stood up and started for the Library doors but before she got too far she heard her name being called, she saw Buffy approaching her "I'm just going to the restroom Buff; I need to move around by backs irritating me."

Buffy looked hesitant to let her out of her sight not when the vampires could get around town easily during the day "Alright but if you're not back in 5 minutes I'm coming after you," Caitlin didn't even argue because her sisters face was serious, Buffy was always protective of her and with that became a little ridiculous with her demands but she wasn't in the mode to argue.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin entered the restroom and headed straight for the sinks, she ran the water until it was very cold then took her top off she turned slightly so she could see her back, and her back was badly bruised from the hard ground, at the top of her back there was a tribal tattoo and it looked fairly new. Caitlin got the tattoo just after the incident in LA but her sisters don't know about it, between her shoulder blades was a rather large and gruesome looking scar and at the bottom of her back on her hip were three scars in a parallel line and looked very much like a claw mark. _It's for your own good _the male voice rung out in her head as she gazed at her back _you need to stay here_, the voice was relentless _you're not normal,you need help, It's all your fault, your fault, your fault,IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT_ she knew whose voice that was and the anger she had left behind in LA came rushing right back. She was paying so much attention to trying to shut the voices out of her head she failed to notice the person who was standing by the door.

Willow had arrived moments earlier to see Caitlin hitting her head with her own hand, she focused on the mirror and couldn't hold back a gasp when she saw the state of Caitlin's back. Caitlin looked up when she heard the gasp her hands freezing in mid-air as she looked at Willow, "Caitlin...what..." Willow didn't finish her sentence but approached the teen; she took in the water in the basin and figured out what she was trying to do. "Let me help," Caitlin didn't do anything but stared at Willow and the older girl could tell she was afraid of her asking questions so she manoeuvred Caitlin to stand with her back facing the back wall, Willow got some paper and soaked it in water then dabbed the blondes back. "Buffy asked me to find you, she's gone looking for Jesse we found where they had access to the tunnels," Willow said as she helped Caitlin put her top back on.

"Second day of school and she's already skipping," Caitlin murmured as she and Willow left the restroom, Xander was standing outside waiting and started walking along with them.

"Murder, death, disaster, what else?" Willow asked as she wrote down what she had to search on a pad of paper she had just gotten out of her bag.

"Paranormal, Unexplained, Natural disasters," Xander said liking the fact her could be helpful, he just hoped it was actually of some use in their searches.

"Earthquake, flood..." Caitlin expanded natural disasters needed to be split up in a search otherwise it was too broad and could take hours to find something useful.

"Rain of toads," Xander said pointing both hands at Willow liking his idea very much, he would personally never like to see that but it could probably happen if stuff like this really existed.

"Right," Willow noted all of their suggestions down quickly but in clear hand writing, she liked the fact that her computer skills could be of more use than hacking when she was bored.

"Rain of toads, will that be in the paper?" Xander asked Caitlin looking confused, she returned his look at his question.

Caitlin tried to think why he would ask her "How would I know?" Caitlin asked sounding just as confused at Xander himself, she couldn't fathom a reason for her knowing if rain of toads would be in the paper, sure she read the paper but most people did.

Xander shrugged he thought she would know seeing as she was a slayer too, "I don't know you're a slayer aren't you?" he asked looking proud of himself for knowing that.

Caitlin now looked amused he had assumed they were twins and that if they were twins she too had to be a slayer "I'm not a Slayer Xander, just the Slayers sister...I've only been doing this since I was 13 and I just help," Caitlin explained and Willow seemed to understand whereas Xander looked down right confused.

"Only been doing it since you were 13? You've been doing this for 3 years! And I thought you were a Slayer because you knew how to kill them," Xander's face was completely blank; his thought process had shut down due to his confusion.

Caitlin once again noticed he thought that she was Buffy's twin "Xander I'm not Buffy's twin, she's two years older than me I'm just 2 grades ahead."

Willow decided to step in before they had to scrape Xander brains off of the walls, he had only made the same assumption everyone else had but she was glad to see Caitlin took it lightly and didn't seem to bothered "I'll do a computer search, if it's there, it'll turn up, anything to lead us to vampires," Willow said still writing down events to search.

Xander looked a bit skittish now and Caitlin narrowed her eyes "and I, in the meantime, will help by standing around like an idiot," both girls could hear the annoyance in his voice.

"Not like an idiot just standing," Willow quickly assured him trying to be the best friend and help his doubts but the blonde could see it wasn't working.

"Buffy doesn't want you getting hurt," Caitlin was firm as she looked at the older teenager standing in front of her. It was clear Buffy didn't want any of them getting hurt simply because she was still with them as both a defence and a way to keep her safe.

Xander was about to protest to Caitlin when Willow spoke up to agree with the young blonde "*I* don't want you getting hurt," they could see the desperation in her eyes for him to understand.

Xander was finally able to say what he was going to say before Willow chimed in "This is just too much. Yesterday my life's 'Uh-Oh! Pop quiz' today, it's 'rain of toads'" Xander said.

Caitlin mumbled under her breath but it wasn't loud or clear enough for the other two to understand. "I know. And everyone else thinks it's just a normal day," Willow glanced around watching everyone getting on with their lives as if nothing was different.

"Nobody knows, it's like we've got this big secret," the brunette replied following Willow's lead by looking around.

Willow looked back at her long time best friend "We do. That's what a secret is, when you know something other guys don't," she spoke slowly but wasn't patronizing which Caitlin had to give her credit for.

"Right," he looked over his shoulder then back to the girls "look, maybe you two should get to class" suspicion arose in both girls about that fact he didn't include himself in that statement.

Caitlin crossed her arms stiffly over her chest trying not to move too much "you mean we. *We* should get to class," she corrected his statement in a resolved tone knowing he was about to go out and follow her sister which in her books was a big no because he'd possibly either get himself killed or both of them if he tried to help.

"Yeah," he quickly made eye contact then started to look anywhere but at the two girls in front of him trying not to give anything away but he was actually just making himself look more guilty.

"Buffy'll be OK. Whatever's down there, I think she can handle it," he couldn't pull one over on his best friend no matter had hard he tried, and frankly he wasn't fooling Caitlin either who had only known him 24 hours, he sucked at lying.

"Yeah, I do too," Xander replied making eye contact again with Willow, who still looked worried he was going to follow the older blonde.

"I know she can," Caitlin shrugged when they both glanced at her "she'd been doing this awhile guys." She uncrossed her arms and they fell lifelessly to her sides trying hard not to think about the past that statement brought up. Willow noticed her eyes getting glazed so she nudged the blonde and got a smile of thanks in return "let's get to class," she said and started walking to her Latin room.

~GU:CM~

She needed to focus; she hadn't been this unfocused since before her respite in San Francisco with her Grandmother and Cousins at it was seriously affecting her during class, so instead of listening, seeing as she was ahead of them anyways, she tried the mantra her Grams taught her to block out bad memories '_I am free and my family is safety'_ she repeated the words until she felt relaxed and calm, she noticed it had taken most of the lesson to calm down. When the bell rang she quickly made her way out into the hall only to see Willow waiting for her "Will," Willow raised an eyebrow at the nickname "Sorry don't like full names, what are you doing here?" she hoped she didn't have to explain the scene in the bathroom to her.

Willow didn't know how to approach Caitlin about what she had seen in the bathroom but she wanted to know if the younger teen was truly alright "Are you alright?" she asked softly putting her hand on the teens forearm, they both had computer lab next but Caitlin didn't know she was in the same class as Willow.

Caitlin seriously considered the question, was she alright? Well she felt better but she didn't know if that meant she was alright so she decided to answer truthfully, "I'm getting better," she smiled slightly as they stopped in front of the computer lab "From the way you haven't said bye I guess we have this class together," Caitlin raised a blonde brow at her redhead friend. Willow nodded and they both headed in, Caitlin was instructed to sit next to Willow so the read head could help her catch up but Willow already had yesterday during sixth period.

It had been about 20 minutes before someone had finally complained about the work "No," Cordelia's voice echoed out in the relatively quiet room but no one really glanced at her "It's supposed to find the syntax and match it! Or wait..."

Cordelia was interrupted by a blonde girl who Caitlin had found out was Harmony "Are we going to the Bronze tonight?" Caitlin glanced at her but turned back when she witnessed the worshipping look she sent Cordelia.

"No were going to the other cool place in Sunnydale, of course we're going to the Bronze tonight. No cover?" Cordelia looked around as if she were going to tell a secret but kept her voice at a normal level "But you should have been there last night, cos I ran into Buffy," Caitlin tensed when she heard her sister's name being said and she knew nothing good could come from it "And could she *be* any weirder?" Cordelia asked, Willow turned subtly to look at Cordelia but also enough so she could still see Caitlin who was staring off into space "She attacked me! Do you believe it?" Caitlin sat upright at that and made Willow jump.

Harmony sighed as she looked at the screen "I think we did this part wrong," she seemed to talk as if she were still on the same subject.

Cordelia in her snobbishness copied the change in conversation easily taking a holier than thou approach "Why do *we* have to devise these programs? Isn't that what nerds do? What'd _she_ do?" Cordelia leant over to Harmony trying to see Willow's screen.

Harmony looked over to Willows screen and flinched when she met Caitlin's glare, which was solely focused on Cordelia so she sighed in relief and read Willow's screen, Caitlin fixed her glare to Harmony so the blonde quickly turned around "Uh, she's doing something else."

Caitlin didn't pay attention to what they were saying until they started talking about her sister again "So anyway, I come out of the bathroom and she comes running at me, screaming with a stick 'I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna kill you!' I swear!" Willow focused her attention on Caitlin and saw her doing some breathing exercises and when some kid asked who and then they got into being kicked out but what she heard next caused a reaction Willow never expected. "Uh, because she's a psycho loony," Caitlin slammed her hand on the desk and gripped it hard.

"No, she's not," the sister commented with a low voice and when Cordelia asked her what Caitlin turned and set a bone chilling glare on the older teenager and started to stand up.

"She's not a psycho. You don't even know her," Willow spoke up hoping to distract the blonde, because the hollow look in the girl's eyes was scaring her and they weren't even focusing on her.

"Excuse me who gave you permission to exist; do I horn in on your private discussions? No why because you're boring," Cordelia said with a smug little grin. Willow stood up and headed for the printer planning on ignoring the harsh words but again Willow was shocked by Caitlin.

Caitlin smirked and started clapping confusing the three kids who had smirked at bashing Willow "What a performance by the queen bitch herself," Cordelia's jaw dropped. Caitlin made her way and stood behind Cordelia who stayed perfectly still "You're so pathetic y'know, you pick on someone with triple digit IQ just because their smarter than your single digit IQ. I'm surprised you can even speak cos you're so stupid...when they all abandon you queeny I'm gonna be the first one to point and ridicule you," she pushed hard on the back of Cordelia's chair then turned to face Harmony. "Think about spreading rumours about my friends or my sister and I and you're gonna wish your parents get transferred...we clear?" too stunned to speak the dumb blonde nods her head. Caitlin pats Cordelia on the shoulder "So glad we understand each other," Caitlin made her way over to Willow as the others immediately started speaking about work.

Willow gave a shy smile having heard everything "Thank you," Caitlin's face remained blank as if she had used up her emotions for the day but her lip twitched as she nodded "Deliver," she said after hearing the others conversation on how to save, they made their way out of class having finished everything as Willow helped Caitlin complete it. Caitlin stared at Willow too drained to raise her eyebrow and the redhead just shrugged "After what they said I want to make them do it again."

Caitlin huffed a laugh as she continued to follow Willow towards the library, as they entered they heard Giles call Buffy's name in question obviously hoping it was her "It's just us," Caitlin said in a monotone as her and Willow approached the centre of the Library.

"So, there's no word?" Willow asked as they finally came to a stop, she looked over at all the books that were on the table and she almost got her excited vibe back but Caitlin placed a hand on her arm, a silent way to tell her to stay focused.

Giles thought for a second about what she was asking then it clicked, she was asking about the missing blonde "Uh, not as yet, no," he stuttered over his words, he took his glasses off and leant back against the chair and let his attention be on the girls.

Willow ever the optimist "Well, I'm sure they're...great," she said trying to sound her usual perkiness but it didn't work as she was a little worried about all of the vampires.

Giles seemed not to care as he didn't try to assure the redhead and he was glad he didn't get a response from the blonde who was leaning against the desk, she appeared to be content staring into space "Did you find anything of interest?"

"I think maybe," she started to approach Giles reading off of the sheets she had printed "I surfed through old newspapers around the time of that earthquake back in '37, for several months before, there were a rash of murders." Willow handed the papers to Giles and was rewarded by a slightly distracted praise.

"Great," Giles said and as he had just realised what he said backtracked "I mean, uh, well not great in a good way uh...go on," he gave up trying to explain as Caitlin finally focused her attention on him and her eyes showed amusement at his stuttering, but her face never broke its frozen mask.

Willow continued "Well, they sound like the kind you were looking for. Throats, blood..." Willow showed Giles the picture and then cringed away not wanting to see it anymore.

"It's all coming together, I rather wish it weren't," Giles muttered and looked at all the evidence in front of him. Caitlin made no move to get closer to him and he seemed to want to ignore her which she was fine with but her eyes lingered on Willow as the older girl started looking over the texts.

Caitlin hoped up onto the desk she was leaning against and continued to look over towards Giles and Willow but not saying anything, she didn't know how long she had been sat there but Willow approached her with a big smile on her face but her eyes also held fright and concern "You alright?" Caitlin asked seeing Willow trying to mask her feelings.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Willow asked timidly hoping not to piss off the blonde; Caitlin just shrugged not knowing if Willow should ask her. Willow placed her hand on Caitlin's joined hands that were resting in her lap "Are you okay?" She had wanted to ask the question since the hollow look entered the blonde's eyes but she was too afraid to and when Caitlin shrugged again she tightened her hold on the joined hands slightly. Caitlin looked down at their joint hands then back to the older females face, she could see the honesty in Willow's eyes and wanted to tell her what was wrong but the story was too long "We're friends right?" Willow was shy in asking, putting herself on the line to be shot down but Caitlin didn't do that.

She wouldn't do that, Willow was too sweet for her to shot down and she generally liked her company "Yeah we are," she tried to smile but her face wouldn't move from its frozen position but Willow could see she was trying and smiled back to her. Caitlin jumped off the counter and stood in front of Willow "There's a lot I'll need to tell you later on but for now I get like this sometimes and I'm working on it," Willow nodded and returned to the books to help Giles out, the youngest occupant wanted to but her heart just wasn't in it. Just as she was about to join them Buffy came through the library doors, Caitlin rushed over and threw her arms around her sister and buried her head into her sisters neck "Glad you're okay?" she whispered in broken words.

Buffy rested her head against her sisters and rubbed her back trying to soothe her, something must have happened in one of her classes to get her like this and when she looked up she saw Willow's worried gaze fixed directly onto her sister. "Cait what happened?" she tried to pull her sister back but it didn't work, so carefully she manoeuvred them so she could lean against the checkout desk. Caitlin was trying to keep her breathing regular but it obviously didn't work because Buffy hugged her closer, "Baby please?" using her old nickname for her almost brought the younger sister to tears. Caitlin felt herself being moved but didn't speak not wanting to show weakness in front of others "Baby we're alone," Buffy said, she had asked Giles to use his office and led her sister there.

Caitlin didn't lift her head but took a deep breath then exhaled calming herself by taking in her sister's familiar scent "I can't do it Buff." Slayer hearing picked up the muffled words but the older blonde didn't try to ask her what, if she had learnt anything from the last couple of months it was to be patient with Caitlin. Buffy's patience was rewarded a couple of minutes later "I'm not like I used to be, I can't keep calm and act like everything's alright anymore," she didn't quite understand the words but she knew Caitlin needed to talk about it.

Buffy managed to pull her sister back enough to see the tears rolling down her face, with the gentleness of an older sister Buffy wiped the tears from Caitlin's cheeks and kissed her forehead "Baby I'm not even going to try to understand what you're going through because I couldn't possibly grasp it but you're strong and you're not alone, take it one day at a time and I'm always here for you, so is mom." Caitlin tried to smile but couldn't make her muscles move then Buffy placed a kiss on her forehead again and she managed a small smile then, "There's what I'm looking for...I'm going to go out there and talk to the others," Buffy started to leave but Caitlin grasped her wrist and pulled her into a hug again which she accepted easily.

Caitlin pulled back and kissed the corner of her sister's mouth "Thank you," she whispered and released Buffy but before the other blonde could shut the door she spoke again "Jesse is a vampire isn't he," she received a nod to her statement and was left alone in the office. She sat in Giles's office chair and started to relax only to jump seconds later from hearing a metallic sound crashing but didn't get up to investigate assuming it was something falling over, with her eyes closed she listened to what was happening in the next room.

Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles decided that the harvest was going to be held at the Bronze and started to head off "Caitlin," Buffy raised her voice slightly "I gotta make a stop." Caitlin jumped over the counter and fell in step with Xander and Willow, Willow smiled Caitlin who managed to return it this time.

"What for?" Giles asked as he quickly glanced behind him to look at Buffy, he could fathom a reason for her to need to stop anywhere other than the Bronze, he managed to put his coat on before the Slayer replied.

"Supplies," was all she said as she reached behind her for her sister's hand, Caitlin knew where they were headed and hoped that Dawn and their mother were busy.

Caitlin looked over at Xander as her sister pulled her closer to her side "I'm sorry Xander," he knew what she was talking about and replied with a soft me too and when he tried to smile at her it came out as a grimace. Caitlin saw the look in Willow's eyes and grabbed her hand to give it an encouraging squeeze; the slightly older girl gave her a thankful look but didn't release the younger girl's hand which Caitlin was surprisingly okay with.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin sat in the kitchen with Dawn and listened about how her day went and she enjoyed the change of scenery, so to speak, and even commented that it sounded like her sister was enjoying school "Who wouldn't," Dawn replied as she gave Caitlin a sceptical look "Don't you?" with this question Caitlin knew she had to be careful because if she said no then Dawn would start not liking school.

"You've seen my grades of course I like school," Caitlin got up and stood behind Dawn and put her arms around her baby sisters waist then placed her head on her shoulder, "C'mon Dawnie, you knew that," Dawn dropped her head back to rest it on her sisters shoulder. It was unlike Dawn to be quiet around her so she knew she was being serious and was slightly worried.

Dawn tilted her head so she could see Caitlin's face and Caitlin returned the favour by looking at her as well "It's just lately you don't seem to," now she knew where this was going. Dawn didn't know why her behaviour had changed dramatically over the past couple of months "You even stopped swimming, dancing and Martial Arts," back in LA Caitlin was always out and about or off doing activities but since the incident she had barely left the house and when she did she had to be with other people.

Caitlin turned Dawn to face her and saw the look of concern on her younger sister's face "I know I've been different, I may never go back to being the old me Taz but I'm trying to get better okay?" Dawn's eyes watered, she obviously wasn't satisfied "What did dad tell you about it?" she winced at the word dad, Hank certainly wasn't her father and she hated referring to him as such but Dawn wasn't aware that they had a different father, Joyce would tell her eventually but only when she wouldn't throw it back in her sisters face if she got angry.

"He said you spent time away with school but Grams said he sent you away, then he told me it was because you were in trouble and that you just needed some time to get your act together and he set up for you to be an exchange student...but you were fine before you went away and worse when you came back," Dawn didn't understand, Caitlin had gone away for a while and come back worse how was she getting better when there was nothing wrong with her in the first place.

Caitlin wiped the tears away "It takes time Dawnie and you being yourself helps me bunches okay?" Dawn nodded feeling helpful; she wanted the old Caitlin back so anything she could do to help would be good. "So if you see me acting crazy be even crazier, it might help," Dawn beamed at her; Caitlin was almost afraid what Dawn would be like if she was crazier. Dawn got up and headed upstairs to start on her homework. Caitlin laughed under her breath as she watched Dawn scamper away.

Joyce came into the kitchen and saw the amusement in her daughter's eyes "What's so funny?" she liked seeing her daughter happy, she knew Buffy wouldn't be down tonight seeing as she just grounded her but at least two of her three daughters seemed happy, she had seen Dawn on her way down the stairs and the 10 year old looked ecstatic.

"I think I just gave Dawn permission to go crazy," she laughed as her mother groaned and before she could say anything Caitlin started speaking again. "She was upset that I hadn't gone back to being myself and I told her that being herself helped more than she could ever know and said if I act crazy to go crazier...think that was a bad move?" the blonde turned to face her mother as she prepared food "Don't make any for me I'm out tonight."

"Well you'll being going alone I grounded Buffy," Caitlin knew that it wouldn't stop Buffy but kept her mouth shut "And I think what you said to Dawn might be helpful to both of you so I think it was a good move," Joyce touched her daughters cheek as she started on dinner.

Caitlin got up and placed a kiss on her mother's cheek "I'll be back later, not too sure when." Joyce nodded at Caitlin who made her way to the front door and grabbed her leather jacket "Taz I'm going out," she heard Dawn reply and made her way out of the door and met Buffy "You are so grounded" she laughed when she saw Buffy's disgruntled look.

~GU:CM~

The five of them ran towards the Bronze and saw that no one was waiting outside and the bouncer wasn't there, they all stopped outside of the main door and Buffy tried to open the door she grunted when it wouldn't open "It's locked," she said as she tried again with more force, she turned around and lifted her arms in the air slightly.

Giles turned around as he spoke "We're too late," he seemed to be trying to find a new way in. He hadn't been pleased when the two blondes were late meeting the others but Caitlin like a good sister ratted her older sister out with a light smirk on her face that made it hard for Buffy to stay mad.

"I didn't know I'd get grounded!" Buffy protested at her watchers short statement and she seemed to be pleading for him to believe her, Caitlin was less than surprised when her mother told her Buffy was grounded because she had missed the last couple of classes.

"Can you break it?" Xander asked as he pointed to the door Giles was now approaching, he wanted to see her break the door even if he should be worrying more on the fact that vampires were killing people inside for the harvest.

Caitlin sized the door up and guessed that Buffy wouldn't be able to break through it because it was a few inches thick steel and she was right "No, not that thing. You try the back entrance and I'll find my own way," she commanded as she looked up at the roof, she wondered if she could get up their without making too much noise so she didn't alert the vampires inside.

"Right, come on," Giles said as he approached the foursome again, he had tried to see if the door had any weak points but was unable to in his quick scan and he didn't have the time to check it more thoroughly. He started to walk off towards the back with the other three before Buffy's attention turned back to them.

She realised that she had all of the necessary equipment for killing the vampires in her hand and knew they would need it more than her "Uh, wait, guys here," she handed Caitlin the bag as she knew her sister knew what to do with it but she knew her sister too well "You get the exit cleared and the people out. That's all," she said to the group but directed it mainly at her sister "Don't go Wild bunch on me," she said firmly and hoped to some higher power that her sister listened and didn't become a meal for the harvest. She was counting on her too keep the other three safe even if one of them was a watcher.

Caitlin nodded getting the hint "See you inside then," she squeezed her sisters hand that had lingered on the bag and ran off feeling excited yet dreading what was about to happen. The other three followed her lead and soon they were at the back door.

Willow went for the handle only to find it locked as well "No joy," she said as she turned to face the others, Xander was a little out of breath, Giles was leaning against the wall trying to catch his but Caitlin showed no sign of fatigue but they had no idea why seeing as Willow was breathing a little hard too. All the years in her chosen activities had given Caitlin the advantage when it came to this sort of thing.

"We have to get in there before Jesse does something stupider than usual," Xander said as he looked at the back doors then to the others, he didn't want his friend to kill anyone and it hadn't occurred to him fully that Jesse was no longer Jesse

"You listen to me. Jesse is dead you have to remember that when you see him, you're not looking at your friend you're looking at the thing that killed him," Giles said as he tried to even his breathing, being his age and running around everywhere was not going to be easy the two in front of him needed to get it into their heads that when turned into a vampire that you were no longer their only a demon was there.

Caitlin stepped up to help explain it to Giles, "He's going to play on your compassion you two, he knows you know him and want to save him but you can't save him because when you see him it's just a demon wearing a mask that looks like Jesse," she said calmly not wanting to freak them out any more than necessary but she too knew they had to get it into their heads vampires aren't people and they don't care what happens to the people they used to know.

Giles picked up an empty keg and started to hit it against the door in hopes that it might actually open, after a few hits the door started to wobble more showing it was becoming loosened by the hits and with one final hit the door swung open "Hurry," he said to the three teenagers, Xander charged in first then Giles and Willow followed quickly by Caitlin and the door closed behind her. Giles and Willow stayed by the door as Xander and Caitlin headed for the people inside.

Caitlin saw her sister and some big vampire on stage but settled her mind on helping clear the people out, she noticed Xander getting attacked by a vampire from behind but before she could move to help the vampire was decapitated by something and Xander dropped to the floor "Heads up," Caitlin snorted despite the situation and saw her sister trying to suppress her laughter on stage. She saw the big vampire coming up from behind and called her sisters name but she was too late and the vampire got her in a bear hold and started to squeeze, she started to head for her sister when a vampire jumped her from the side crashing both of them to the floor. Caitlin sighed inwardly noticing how she was always pushed to the floor by vampires, she managed to roll him off of her and stake him with one she had taken out of the bag earlier, and seeing how all the vampires were getting restless she opened the door at the front and started to get people to go through their as well. Caitlin saw Xander with Jesse, Giles being attacked by the same blonde vampire that was in the crypt but she saw Willow helping, Caitlin concentrated on getting people out.

Buffy staked Luke and watched him turn to dust then she looked over at the two vampires who had Xander and watched them run so she climbed off the stage and watched everyone approach her "I take it it's over," Giles said as he stood next to Buffy.

"Did we win?" Willow asked as she stopped next to Giles and watched Xander approach with Buffy's jacket.

"Well we averted the apocalypse, I'd give us points for that," Buffy commented as she took the jacket from Xander. She put her arm around her sister's waist and held the jacket in one hand, she nudged her slightly.

"One thing's for sure nothing's ever going to be the same," Giles took his glasses off and cleaned then so he missed the blondes flinching as only they knew how true Xander's spoken words were seeing as they had both changed since she was first summoned as the Slayer, Willow observed the flinching as she was the only one looking their way.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin was stood with Willow and Giles as they waited for Buffy and Xander to catch up, she heard Buffy ask Xander what he had been expecting "I don't know something, I mean the dead rose; we should at least have an assembly," the idea was good but unlikely seeing as no-one really died and probably no-one believed what had been seen anyways.

Giles, Caitlin and Willow started to walk along with the other two "People have a tendency to rationalise what they can and forget what they can't," Giles said as they headed down the pathway towards a building.

"Believe me, I've seen it happen," Buffy said as she pulled the lollipop out of her mouth and before she can put it back Caitlin intercepted and put it in her mouth "Oh Cait gross," Buffy pouted as Caitlin gave a victory noise and the others laughed at the sibling action.

"Well *I'll* never forget it none of it," Willow said looking more colourful in the face today having gotten over the shock of everything. Caitlin linked her arm with the redheads and Willow smiled in response to her action.

"Good. Next time you'll be prepared," Giles commented off handily, surprising Willow and Xander, they didn't know there was going to be a next time but they both saw that Buffy and Caitlin didn't batter an eyelid.

Xander finally spoke his thoughts "Next time?" Willow seemed to agree with him as she followed up his question with her own.

"Next time is why?" Willow question nervously and Caitlin squeezed her arm in reassurance, it made her feel better knowing Buffy and Caitlin were there now, even if Caitlin had a strange tendency to space out or lose her emotions.

"We prevented the Master from opening the mouth of Hell, but he might not stop trying," Giles explained patiently but the condescending tone wasn't present and Caitlin was glad otherwise she would have lost her good mood, and her good moods were very rare these days. "The funs just beginning," Giles said and almost allowed himself to smile at catching the teenagers unawares.

Caitlin huffed "You're view on fun is distorted Giles," the youngest said from behind the older male, she wouldn't count getting hunted fun and certainly not sitting around waiting for it to happen either, her good mood was sinking. Buffy slung an arm around her younger sister's shoulder and gripped it slightly hoping that the other blonde kept some of her good vibes.

"More vampires?" Willow asked the colour once again draining from her face at the thought of those ugly things running around.

They had come to a halt and Giles turned around "Not just vampires. The next threat we face may be something quite different," he seemed excited with that fact and his giddiness was not helping the others whilst Buffy remained nonchalant.

Buffy had gotten another lollipop out "I can hardly wait," she shrugged and stuck the lolly in her mouth; Caitlin nudged her and smiled at her acceptance.

Giles didn't seem happy that the others didn't seem as happy as he did, Caitlin was starting to think he was slightly twisted "We are at the centre of a mystical convergence here; we may in fact stand between the Earth and its total destruction," no one seemed to share his enthusiasm but someone certainly commented on it.

"Wow that's really... sad," Caitlin said from around her lolly her good mood keeping steady seeing as she was being sarcastic yet funny.

Buffy shrugged as her sister looked at her, she assumed all watchers were like that strange old man "I gotta look on the bright side. Maybe I can still get kicked out of school," they carried on walking, the girls linked together and the males stood in front of them trying to look slightly manly. Caitlin pushed her sister a little showing she didn't agree with what she had just said so Buffy pushed their hips together showing her playful attitude.

Xander jumped in "Oh yeah cos that's a plan. A lot of schools aren't on Hellmouths," he walked slightly behind them having started latter than them.

Willow took over the chain of though and sounding just as serious as Buffy had, "You could blow something up. They're really strict about that," her suggestion seemed very likely to happen.

"Try not to give her ideas plus... Nah she doesn't like repeating herself," Caitlin joked as they kept on walking further away from Giles, who stood there watching them leave.

"I was thinking of a more subtle approach, you know. Like excessive not studying," Buffy muttered not wanting to think about blowing something up seeing as she was one step away from it back in LA plus she was surprised Caitlin brought it up willingly.

Caitlin looked over at Buffy and smirked at the little pout on her face, she couldn't help but allow the next comment to come out of her mouth "But sis don't you already do that," she laughed as Buffy's jaw dropped open, Caitlin lifted her hand to take the lolly but Buffy grabbed it and pushed it back down. Buffy mumbled something about mean little sisters that brought Caitlin to giggles.

Willow liked this side of Caitlin that she was seeing as she hadn't seen it before "You two are very close," she commented in an absent minded tone, both blondes looked at her and she blushed under their gaze.

Xander had noticed they were close as well and he put his arms around their shoulders "So ever gotten into a cat fight," his mind wandering off to forbidden fantasies about Caitlin and Buffy cat fighting with other girls and it earned him an elbow from both blondes into each side of his ribs and he coughed in surprise.

Caitlin stayed under his arm and made no move to get him to drop it either so the brunette knew he hadn't crossed any lines "Please I'd kick ass before they even close to me, I'm a third Dan." she wondered if he knew what that meant and looking up at his face she could see that he didn't "Martial Arts...black belt," she said slowly giving him time to catch up and when he did his eyes got wide and he laughed nervously. "Buffy's the one to get into cat fights not me," Caitlin supplied not wanting to crush his fantasies too badly and she was in a mood for annoying Buffy.

Buffy huffed and crossed her arms but didn't move from under his arm either "that was like twice and before I became the Slayer I remind you sis," Buffy stuck her chin out and got laughs from the other three which brought a smile to her lips. Soon they were standing outside her and Caitlin's class "We'd better head in," Buffy sighed dramatically and pulled the door open, Caitlin waved to the other two and walked in and after saying goodbye Buffy followed.

Xander watched the two go in amusement he had never seen two siblings so close before and he had certainly never seen two so alike yet so different "I have a feeling school is going to get so much better with those two around," he looked down at Willow who was nodding her head with a big smile on her face.

"They certainly liven the place up," Willow added as she and Xander walked on to their lesson, she liked the siblings and couldn't wait to get to know them better.

~GU:CM~

Lunch came around quickly that day and found the four of them sat on the benches in the courtyard; Caitlin was sat by Buffy's feet whilst the older three sat on the actual bench "Hey Buffy you thought about taking cheerleading back up?" Caitlin asked as she leant back against Buffy's legs, Buffy's hand went to her sister's head and started to play with her hair.

"Yeah I thought of going to the try outs next week...what about you?" Buffy couldn't see her sister's face but she could just imagine the look of horror splayed across her face, Buffy giggled and true to her thoughts Caitlin looked absolutely horrified. Buffy couldn't stop herself as she teased Caitlin, "You know you want to...it's just like dancing" Caitlin turned her head to send Buffy a glare.

Xander seemed interested "try-outs...cheerleading outfits, when?" he was interested just not on the right thing; Buffy gave him the information which brought a smile to the teens face. Xander looked down at the younger blonde "You dance?" he had picked up on what Buffy had said and figured out she did the dancing.

"Yes I dance...better than cheerleading," Caitlin stood up and got in the cheerleading stance, "Okay team today were going to learn our new routine," Xander saw where she was going and stood next to her to mimic her actions "give me an S, Give me a T, give me U, Give P, give me a I and a D, what does that spell?...no seriously what does it spell?" she had acted out all the letters along with Xander and turned to face him when she asked what it seriously spelt in her overly preppy voice.

Xander raised his hand and in a girly voice answered "Oh oh I know, Stupid," he pronounced stupid out; both smiled and clapped in an overly joyous and perky way. Buffy and Willow were laughing by the end of their routine.

"It's dancing for idiots," Caitlin said as she sat back down by Buffy's feet and Xander returned to his place at the end of the bench. Buffy kicked her sister in the back at the comment seeing as she had been a cheerleader "My point exactly," the blonde muttered, which got her another kick.

Willow put her lunch box away seeing as she was finished and decided to ask Caitlin some questions, "So what other things do you do?" Caitlin looked at her and tilted her head to the side waiting for Willow to clarify her question, "I mean what other activities did you do in your free time back in LA?"

"Oh I did dancing, swimming and Martial Arts...I'm going to the local club tonight to see if I can do any of them again," Caitlin said as she bit into her apple, she had done them since she was 3 and won lots of competitions in each but she assumed none of them tracked the sports, However...

"Caitlin McKenzie-Halliwell!" Xander blurted out pointing at the youngest in the group, Caitlin's eyes widened as did Buffy's seeing as she hadn't expected it any more than Caitlin had. Everyone usually assumed her last name was Summers which it was but her name in registered competitions was McKenzie-Halliwell not Halliwell-Summers, seeing as it was about her and not Hank's ego, now she thought about it she noticed how Dawn never asked questions about the change in name.

"McKenzie-Halliwell?" Willow looked at Xander, who was still busy pointing at Caitlin.

Xander continued to point but faced Willow, "Yeah couple of months ago we watched that dance competition and there was that really good group of street dancers that mixed most of the styles up...the choreographer and main dancer was called Caitlin McKenzie-Halliwell," Willow raised her eyebrow not getting the connection "Caitlin's full name is Caitlin Halliwell-Summers." Willow's eyes widened and they both looked back at Caitlin.

Caitlin shifted uncomfortably under their looks, "My performing name is McKenzie-Halliwell," she mumbled in admittance but from her look they knew they would get no more about her name.

"I remember that competition; you had the guys in a sort of stairs formation and ran up them, then back flipped off the top and landed slightly in front of them and did a few backhand springs out of the way for the other dances before you came back in...I was very impressed," Buffy praised Caitlin and gave her an affectionate stroke of the hair.

Caitlin ducked her head under the impressed stares of the others, "Yeah well I haven't danced in 6 months and I don't know if I can get in anywhere here," she shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal but the others could see the disappointment on her face.

"I'm sure there is so you get back into dancing, swimming and kicking butt and I'll get back into cheerleading," Buffy exclaimed happily, Xander and Willow nodding for her as they looked at Caitlin not liking to see her upset.

Caitlin chuckled at her next thought and voiced it "What is Giles going to say about you cheerleading?" Buffy made a face and shrugged not really caring what he thought, "Oh this'll be fun" Caitlin commented as the bell rung to signal the end of the period.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin led on her bed with her headphones on listening to Metallica at a high volume to drown out the voices in her head and sounds around her as she was trying to relax. Just as Sandman came on she opened her eyes feeling someone looking at her, Dawn was stood by the door with the phone in her hand, she quickly took her headphones off and waved Dawn in. Dawn handed her sister the phone and started heading out of the room but her older sister caught her wrist and pulled her on to the bed and on top of her and Dawn couldn't help but get comfortable as Caitlin wrapped an arm around her sister "Hello," Caitlin spoke not knowing who it was.

"CAITWIN!" was her reply and she instantly knew it was her Cousin Piper's child Perri. Perri Izadora Patricia Halliwell or Pip to her family.

"Hey kiddo how have you been?" the 14 year old asked her 4 year old Cousin, it had been a week since she had seen her and she missed her Cousins and Grandmother something fierce as they had been her Pillar for the past couple of months.

Laboured breathing came from the phone and she wasn't sure if it was because of the Asthma or because the child was excited "I'm Okays I misses you and Paige," her older Cousin Paige had left for her around the world trip a week before they had left for Sunnydale.

"Aww I'm sure she misses you too Pip, she still phones every day at 5 doesn't she?" she got an uh-huh from the child so she carried on "Kiddo shouldn't you be in bed? Have you spoken to Buff, Dawnie and mom yet?" Caitlin asked as she glanced at her clock noticing it was 6:30.

Caitlin could hear shuffling in the background and knew Perri was either being moved or finding her mother, the first option was most viable Piper never let Perri too far out of her sight. Perri giggled "Yeppers I's going now momma taking me up, nu-night," Caitlin chuckled as Perri said yeppers her Aunts and Dawn had trained her to say it during their stay.

The phone swapped hands, "Hey baby C," a new voice greeted. Caitlin took a quick glance at Dawn when she felt something start to play with her fingers and realised it was Dawn drumming them out on her own stomach.

"Hey Pipes, how's the job?" Caitlin smirked to herself and Dawn when she looked up, both knew their Cousin hated her job but she needed the money.

She heard a groan before she heard her grandmothers voice telling Piper she'd put Perri too bed and a quick conversation between mother and young child. "Sorry about that, the job is horrible...how are things in Sunnydale?"

"You know I don't mind Piper. I sympathise but I can't relate I love my jobs...well I signed back up for dancing, swimming and Martial Arts. I have some friends their names are Willow and Xander and they're great but Willow kind of caught me at a breaking point, she hasn't questioned me yet she just helped me out, oh and Buffy got grounded already it was funny," Caitlin recapped to Piper, and at one point heard a deep intake of breath. Dawn quickly looked up at her sister not knowing about another episode.

Piper didn't like hearing that Caitlin had another breakdown but she knew to expect them because she would always have them she just hoped they would get further apart and less frequent, "you're okay for now? I'm glad you've gotten back into your activities, it will help you...Grams wants to talk to you, so I'll talk to you later Baby C...Call if you need to talk to me at any time okay?"

"I can't say I'm okay but I think I'll get better it's hard but you've seen that, you more than the others...I'll call you if I need you I promise, chat later." Caitlin gave Dawn a small smile showing her she was fine, Dawn kept looking up at her sister wondering if she was going to keep having these breakdowns.

"Hello Caitlin, how are you?" her grandmother Penny Halliwell asked her, Caitlin caught the real question though, how are you feeling after the episode?

Caitlin started to get agitated with everyone asking her how she was all the time but tried to keep calm, "Okay I guess, I feel agitated because everyone keeps asking me the same thing," Caitlin returned sounding annoyed.

Penny sighed down the phone, "Did you do the mantra we decided on?"

Caitlin tried to calm herself down but she couldn't seem to do it "Of course," she replied in a tight tone. Dawn started to rub Caitlin's stomach to try and get her to calm down, she had seen her cousins do it during their stay and it had always worked.

"Don't take that tone with me young lady; I'm just trying to help...now what set you off in Class, Buffy was told you seemed like a different person?" Penny had to remain calm when Caitlin started to get agitated otherwise it would escalade and she never wanted it to get as bad as it had been when the girls had gotten into the big argument.

"Who do you think you are my warden?" Caitlin growled through clenched teeth as her body tensed, Dawn knew the signs and quickly raced to get her mother and Buffy.

"Caitlin dear calm down, now tell me what set you off" it was calmly requested but did little to pacify the agitated teenager, "Darling, please calm down."

Caitlin knew she needed to tell her grandmother why she had the change in class, "some kids were bad mouthing Buffy calling her a psycho, they just threw the word out without thinking and it annoyed me, THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH BUFFY!" Caitlin shouted the last bit as she saw her older sister and mother come in through the door looking worried. They knew she must be having another episode because she never spoke to Grams that way.

"I know that dear and you know that but some teenagers are just idiots...did you take your lithium today?" Grams obviously wasn't going to stop asking these routine questions.

Caitlin slumped down defeated; she had forgotten to take her medication this morning and without her regular exercise her emotions were all over the place, "Goddess, no I forgot," she whispered suddenly feeling self-conscious and stupid. Joyce and Buffy were now sat next to her waiting for her to finish.

"We all forget to take medicine sometimes..." Caitlin blocked her grandmother out as she gripped some of her hair tightly and scrunched up her face; Joyce took the phone away and left the room talking to her mother.

Buffy pulled Caitlin to her side and when Caitlin put her head on her shoulder she put her head on her little sisters, "Wanna talk about it?" she asked softly not wanting to annoy her sister any more than she already was. Caitlin just shook her head, she was drained and all she wanted was to sleep. Buffy led them both down and pulled Caitlin to rest on top of her.

Joyce walked back in the room twenty minutes later and saw Caitlin asleep with her head under her sister's chin, "Your grandmother said Caitlin snapped at her after asking how she was and what happened in school, your sister seemed to be on edge and apparently Willow witnessed her breakdown." Joyce sat on the bed and rubbed Caitlin's back.

Buffy nodded at her mother "Willow told me today that she noticed Caitlin seemed to go through emotions quickly and was easily agitated by something in class and now I know why I'm not surprised." Her sister was defensive of her even if she were two years younger.

Joyce leant forward and placed a kiss on her sleeping daughters forehead before placing one on her awake daughter's forehead and stood up, "Will you stay with Caitlin tonight whilst I have Dawn stay with me, she's down stairs crying?" Joyce asked the unnecessary question just to be polite; she knew Buffy would stay with her little sister. Buffy smiled tightly and nodded. Joyce turned and left the room hoping that her daughter would bounce back to how she used to be before her ex had messed it all up.

**\Silver-Eternal-Dragon/**


	3. Chapter 3

Witch

Caitlin was sat watching her sister and her sister's watcher in amusement, Buffy had just told him that she was going to do cheerleading and his reactions as such was making it hard for Caitlin not to laugh. "This is madness! What can you have been thinking? You are the Slayer! Lives depend upon you!" Giles was very upset at the moment, he had been glad when the sisters came in chatting about what Caitlin had done during dance yesterday but then he had seen what Buffy was wearing. Giles began pacing, "I make allowances for your youth, but I expect a certain amount of responsibility, and instead of which you enslave yourself to this, this...Cult?" Giles stopped pacing and turned back to face Buffy but not before sending the chuckling teen on the counter.

Buffy looked down at her cheerleading outfit before she looked back up at Giles feeling somewhat self-conscious "You don't like the colour?" Caitlin couldn't help it anymore and started to laugh out loud at the look on Giles's face.

Giles seemed exasperated as he put some books back on the cart "I d...Do you, um...Do you ignore everything I say as a, as a rule?" he didn't understand the appeal, cheerleaders did not exist over in England for which he was glad.

"No, I believe that's your trick" Buffy responded casually as Giles pushed the cart to the counter. Buffy skipped in front of him and posed trying to catch his attention whilst continuing to make her sister laugh, she had been down since her episode on the phone with Grams, "I told you, I'm trying out for the cheerleading squad!"

Giles looked at her if she were insane as he spoke to her "You have a sacred birth right, Buffy. You were chosen to destroy vampires, not to... have pompoms at people and as the Watcher I forbid it." Giles thought it was the end of the conversation obviously forgetting who he was talking to and goes back to the table.

Caitlin controlled her laughing enough to speak to her sister "I told you this would be fun," she knew her sister wouldn't listen to Giles if he forbid something that would just give her more reason to do it and it wasn't like he could stop her.

Buffy was obviously thinking the same as her sister as she asked her next question sounding somewhat smug "And you'll be stopping me how?"

The watcher sat on the edge of the table and crossed his arms trying to think of something that could actually stop her and it wouldn't be brute force because she could easily beat him "Well, I... By appealing to your common sense, if such a creature exists."

The younger girl looked at Giles like he was mad "I'm not sure it does Giles, I've yet to see it myself," Caitlin turned to tease her sister with a big smile on her face Buffy raised a brow at her sister.

"Don't start with me little sister," the older blonde replied sounding threatening but the smile on her face was to reassure her sister that she wasn't angry, Caitlin went to stand by Buffy knowing they would be leaving soon. "I will still have time to fight the forces of evil, okay? I just wanna have a life; I wanna do something normal, something safe." Buffy linked arms with her sister "And that's that," to add effect to her words Caitlin stuck her tongue out and they both headed out of the library.

The sisters met Willow and Xander on the way to the gym and they all carried on to the try outs, "So how did it go?" Xander asked wanting to know if Buffy would be trying out but he mainly wanted to see her doing cheers in her cheerleader outfit to complete his fantasies.

Caitlin giggled still thinking of the look on Giles's face, "Oh it was fricken funny Xander, we got in there and Giles face fell and then when Buffy said about cheerleading her started ranting on about cults...I needed a good laugh," the youngest of the group wiped her eyes from the tears that had gathered at the memory.

"So she's not going to try out?" Xander asked with a small pout, dreams down the drain for him then.

Caitlin gave him a strange look at the pout, then it hit her he had a crush on her sister and all guys like watching cheerleaders "Yeah, of course she is, don't worry Xan man your safe," she said and the look of shock on his face made her smile widely and it looked slightly evil.

The four of them walked in the gym with Willow and Buffy in front as they had been slightly quicker than Caitlin and Xander. Xander's mouth dropped open as he looked around; girls were stretching and practicing, doing back handsprings, cartwheels and walking handstands. One girl did a round off followed by a back handspring and Caitlin actually looked slightly impressed maybe she was just a little bit wrong about the cheerleaders in this school "Giles didn't approve, huh?" Willow asked, she hadn't heard what Xander and Caitlin were talking about as she and Buffy were talking about other things

"He totally lost his water we haven't seen a vampire in over a week I'd say he should get a girlfriend if he wasn't so old," Buffy gave her sister a small as she snorted still finding it funny and she saw her sister was looking around the gym with a mixture of disgust and awe.

Willow noticed too and filed it away for when she was going to question Caitlin; she already had a few questions that she wanted to ask and was making a mental list "Well, we're behind you."

"People scoff at things like school spirit, but look at these girls giving their all like this!" Xander said as he noticed Amber doing the splits between two chairs, he faltered slightly as he stared at her "Ooo, stretchy!" Caitlin could almost see the dirty images flow through his mind so she nudged him with her elbow "Where was I?" as the dirty thoughts had entered his mind he had completely forgotten what he was saying.

Willow smiled finding it funny at him trying to play what he was doing off as something less than it really was, which was ogling girls "You were pretending that seeing scantily clad girls in revealing postures was a spiritual experience." Xander looked a bit shocked that he had been called on it; he was hoping that he wouldn't be but clearly he was being too obvious

Xander replied to Willow in mock offence "Who said I was pretending?" Suddenly realising he had forgotten something he turned to Buffy "Oh, hey! Here's a good luck thing for try-outs." He handed her a bracelet he had taken out of his pocket.

Buffy took the bracelet with a question "What's this?" she stared to twist it in her fingers.

"What's that?" Caitlin asked looking over her sisters shoulder at the jewellery Buffy held in her hand.

"Oh how sweet!" Buffy shot Caitlin a look, it was obvious that Xander had a crush on Buffy and the look was to keep Caitlin from teasing in front of Xander. Buffy read the inscription "'Yours Always,'" Caitlin clamped a hand over her mouth to stop the question she really wanted to ask, Buffy and Willow gave the male of their group a strange look almost as if they were asking him if he was serious

Xander looked like a deer caught in the headlights as he stuttered out an explanation "I-I-it came that way, really, they all said that!" Buffy exhaled, satisfied by his stuttered save but Caitlin was silently giggling and Willow felt like joining her.

Cordelia approached them as if she were friends with them; Caitlin looked confused as Cordelia spoke to them in a friendly manner "Just look at that Amber, who does she think she is, a Laker Girl?" Xander, Willow and Cordelia didn't seem fazed by the sudden change but the sisters looked a little out of the loop they were sure they disliked one another

Willow looked at Amber as she spoke to Cordelia without a stutter or nervous tone "I heard she turned them down."

Caitlin leant into Buffy and felt her sister responding, "Are you as confused as I am?" she felt Buffy nod and shrug. They didn't want to think about it too much and just let it off as the norm.

Joy, the cheerleading squad leader, steps up with her clipboard and calls for everyone's attention. "Okay, listen up! Let's begin with," Joy looks down at the clipboard she is holding and calls out the first and most obvious person she wants on the squad "Amber Grove. If you're not auditioning, move off the floor," Joy instructed and everyone moved over to the side so they could see the audition

Caitlin stood beside Willow, who looked her over again. Willow had told Buffy about what she had seen and heard in the class and library when she was away and had noticed that since then Caitlin had been different almost regretful or just generally in a funk. Willow's attention was brought away from the blonde by a familiar face "Amy! Hi!"

The named girl came over towards the group, Caitlin straightened up and tensed but looked confused as she did, Willow regarded her for a second before turning back to Amy. Buffy looked at her sister to but Caitlin shook her head and shrugged not understanding "Hi!"

"I didn't know you wanted to be a cheerleader! You lost a lot of weight." Willow said as she looked at Amy and smiled feeling excited like she usually was speaking to her friends.

"Had to," The reply from Amy was short but had enough information to answer Willow's question

Willow didn't notice the short reply and decided to introduce her new friends to one of her older friends "Do you know Buffy and Caitlin?"

Amy smiled at both sisters seemingly friendly but the younger sister didn't relax "Hi," She said as she focused on Buffy who returned the sentiment with a simple Hi as well whilst Caitlin gave a tight smile and nodded. "Oh, how I hate this, let me count the ways," Amy said as they all focused on Amber. She started off with a needle-split lift followed by a double spin and a jumping double spin which she landed gracefully. After landing, Amber launched herself into an aerial and a cartwheel. Jazz slides were then followed by a single spin. Everyone in the gym was intent on watching her and most feeling envious of how graceful she looked out there on her own, most knew that Amber would be top pick for the cheerleaders. Amy spoke to Buffy, "She trained with Benson, he's one of the best coaches money can buy."

Buffy looked shocked at what Amy had said "They have cheerleading coaches?" Caitlin shook her head as she poked her sister in the rib and made Buffy jump slightly.

Amy looked at Buffy like she was a little bit like the typical blonde, dumb "Oh, yeah! Don't you have? I train with my mom, three hours in the morning, three at night."

"Hmm, that much quality time with my mom would probably lead to some quality matricide," Buffy openly admitted she didn't really spend time with her mother like it was no big deal much to her sisters annoyance, Caitlin poked her again and when Buffy turned she gave her a little glare "stop it," Buffy said and it was clear Buffy was not in the mood to play which Caitlin could understand as she was like that before important dance shows.

"Oh, I know it's hockey but she's really great," Amy praised her mother getting a strange look from Willow that quickly disappeared; she hadn't remembered her mother like that but time changes everyone.

Cordelia turned her back to Amber with a look of disdain on her face, "Hmm!" it was clear she wasn't impressed but the gang kind of made the guess it was because she couldn't beat it

Buffy and Xander watched Amber in amazement; Buffy was reminded of watching her sister at her dancing watching Amber and wished her sister would get to do more shows. Amy and Willow were impressed too and Caitlin was still in her slightly impressed mind set from earlier. Amber's hands began to smoke and the longer she performed the more smoke that appeared. "What the...?"

"That girl's on fire!" Willow shouted as everyone looked on stunned to see smoke coming from her hands

Cordelia was still facing away facing away and hadn't seen the smoke when she replied to Willow "Enough of the hyperbole!" she was fed up of everyone worshipping Amber Grove, she reckoned she was twice as good as her.

Amber's hands caught fire as she continued to do her routine; she noticed the burning sensation and dropped her pompoms to the floor then screamed out loud, no one moved because they are all shocked that she was actually on fire. Caitlin was the first one to break out of the shock and reacted by turning around and jumping up on the stands so she can pull one of the banners down. Amber flailed her hands in the air trying to put out the fire and in her panic forgot the basic rule of stop, drop and roll. Caitlin quickly ran at Amber and knocked her down so she can snuff out the flames with the banner. Everyone stared in shock but Buffy as she snapped out of it and ran over to her sister and Amber. "It's okay, it's okay, you're gonna be... okay," Caitlin said to Amber who was sobbing in her arms, Buffy looks at both of them then continued to comfort the distraught teen "Goddess!" Caitlin said as she held Amber to her.

~GU:CM~

Buffy was pacing the library as Willow and Xander sat at the study table, Caitlin was sat on the counter again as she usually did fiddling with her necklace, the one Grams had given her when she was 7, Willow had been watching her play with it for a while and wanted to know what it was and the way Caitlin held it made it seem almost ritualistic or as if it were a religious symbol.

"I've been slaying vampires for more than a year now, and I have seen some pretty cringe worthy things, but...nobody's hands ever got toasted before." Buffy cringed as she actually spoke which made Caitlin look up and tuck her necklace back under her jumper, she didn't really want to be questioned on her necklace yet.

Caitlin nodded to what her sister was saying "seen vampires being toasted but they're already kinda dead and evil so, not so cringe worthy." Buffy looked at her and nodded but then what she had said caught up with her and her eyes started to glaze over, Buffy came over and ran her hand along her sisters thigh. Xander seemed none the wiser to Caitlin's change in attitude but Willow was and she noted it down mentally getting ready to ask Caitlin when she thought the younger girl was ready.

Giles came out of the cage, he had been shocked when he heard the news of flaming hands "I imagine not," he seemed to agree seeing vampires on fire was one thing but a live person was another.

"So, this isn't a vampire problem," Buffy stated as she kept her gaze on her sister assessing whether or not she would need to make an emergency call to Grams. She had overheard what Grams had said to Caitlin the day of Piper's graduation and a part of her wanted Caitlin to take that offer up.

Giles's reply was simple to his slayers statement "No." He looked over to the sisters and noticed that Caitlin wasn't quiet with them, he initially felt like Caitlin would hold Buffy back when he read her file but after seeing them together he knew that Buffy needed Caitlin to keep her level headed just as much as Caitlin obviously needed Buffy. In all his years he had never seen sisters so close and dependant on each other and he severely doubted they could survive without each other.

Buffy turned her attention from Caitlin to Giles "But it is funky, right? Not of the norm?" to a normal naive human being that would have seemed like a stupid question but in their world it was a needed question.

"Quite. Spontaneous human combustion is, is rare, and, and scientifically unexplainable, but there have been cases for hundreds of years. Usually all that's left is a pile of ashes" Giles explained to the slayer and her group, he himself didn't quite understand spontaneous human combustion.

"That's all that would have been left if it hadn't been for Caitlin," Willow remarked from her position, hearing her name Caitlin looked over to Willow, who smiled at her. Caitlin was doing some major fighting in her head at the moment trying not to envision the months before her move to Sunnydale, she saw the smile and managed to return it but it was a hollow smile.

"So, we have no idea what caused this. That's a comfort," Xander stated as he crossed his arms over his chest and leant back on his chair, he didn't like the thought of combusting and the subject was all round strange.

Caitlin slid her hand down her leg and took her sisters hand in her own and started to play with it. "It's magic," she whispered so inaudibly that even Buffy with her slayer hearing could barely hear her, Willow saw her speak from where she was sat as she was still looking at the blonde. Buffy heard Caitlin murmur something but couldn't pick up the words being said.

"But that's the thrill of living on the Hellmouth! There's a veritable cornucopia of, of fiends and devils and, and ghouls to engage," as Giles spoke he sat on the edge of the table and everyone looked at him like he were crazy, Caitlin snickered at him from where she was sat a few feet away "Pardon me for finding the glass half full," he almost felt proud of himself for making Caitlin laugh, he noticed that she had a sense of humour but wasn't always inclined to use it.

Buffy smiled at the rant and hearing her sister's laugh even if it was only a little bit "Any common denominators in cases of spontaneous combustion?"

The librarian slash Watcher had to think on that for a while "Uh, rage. In most cases the person who combusted was, was terribly angry or, or upset."

"So maybe Amber's got this power to make herself be on fire. It's like the human torch, only it hurts," Xander tried to rationalise what had happened but only made himself sound idiotic, Caitlin shook her head and muttered something, "huh?" he directed at Caitlin, who looked up at hearing it.

Caitlin looked around and noticed everyone looking at her, they had heard her muttering something and were interested in her view, "Amber wasn't angry or upset, when a dancer goes into the zone they feel the emotion of the dance and cheerleading is peppy and cheerful, ergo she would have been the same...and Xan human torch but hurts why would anyone do that?"

Xander holds his hands up in mock surrender "Just a thought some people are really strange," he noticed Caitlin smirk and nod at that. Willow couldn't believe how quickly Caitlin was back to what she assumed was normal, she wasn't certain when it came to Caitlin.

"I need to get the skinny on Amber. Find out if she's had any colourful episodes before," Buffy grabbed her sister's hand and pulled lightly signalling she wanted her to follow and after Caitlin got down from the counter they started to go.

"That means hacking illegally into the school's computer system. At last, something *I* can do!" Willow excitedly joined Buffy and Caitlin, she liked the fact she was contributing to a better cause.

Xander joined them as he spoke "I'll ask around about her." He didn't want to be left out; he was their friend and part of the group.

"You guys don't have to get involved," Buffy looked at both of them and saw her sister nodding in agreement; they had already hurt themselves enough as it is with this, Caitlin bearing most of the hurt on her shoulders. Buffy always felt guilt when she was around her sister but couldn't bear to be far from her, they were usually always together unless with friends. Now that they shared the same friends they spent a lot more time together.

They looked confused by what Buffy had said "What d'ya mean? We're a team! Aren't we a team?" Xander rambled off questions as he tried to comprehend what was just said

"Yeah! You're the Slayer, and we're, like, the Slayerettes!" Willow added to Xander's rambling, neither sister corrected her which made the two friends extremely happy. They could both understand where Buffy was coming from but she let her sister do it so why not them.

"We just don't like putting you guys in danger," Buffy stated she didn't need any more guilt and neither did Caitlin. She didn't want to lose Xander or Willow

Xander almost waved her off but decided against it, he didn't exactly want to be on the bad side of the slayer "Oh, huh, I laugh in the face of danger... Then I hide until it goes away."

Buffy's look clearly signalled she had given in "Okay, just walk softly, at least until we know a little more. I mean, what if Amber isn't causing these problems herself?" she asked as she looked at her Watcher, it could be serious if someone was causing all of this.

"Well, then we have to determine who or what did, and, uh, deal with it accordingly," Giles nodded to himself slightly happy with his plan and he smiled as he looked at Caitlin and noticed her smiling slightly.

Caitlin noticed that he kind of said the most obvious things and it amused her, she turned to her big sister and stuck her hand out, and Buffy met her eyes with a raised brow knowing what her sister wanted to do, "Bet you I can figure it out first and that it's not self-inflicted."

"I'll agree to that...next week's allowance from dad," Buffy said as she took her sisters hand but didn't shake it yet. Willow, Xander and Giles looked on in fascination and to them they assumed it would be both of their allowanced from 'dad' but Hank never gave a penny for or to Caitlin, Caitlin worked for hers. "Great next week's allowance," Caitlin and Buffy shook hands and walked off, Willow brushed past Caitlin's shoulder and the blonde turned to her and smiled, Willow smiled back but Caitlin could see the underlying confusion.

~GU:CM~

Buffy walked into the kitchen and noticed that there were several wooden boxes and crates. Joyce was trying to pry one open with a crowbar, "Hey!" Buffy said as she came further into the kitchen.

"Hi, how was school? Where's Caitlin?" Joyce asked her eldest daughter as she looked up from what she was doing slightly.

"Mm, a reverent joy. Something about dance, she kinda rushed off I almost thought she was picking Dawnie up but then I realised it was my day...What's all this?" Buffy waved over the crates that littered the kitchen, she knew it had to be something special if it was still at the house

"It's for the tribal art display; your sisters will be helping me set it up on the weekend"

"Cool! I don't mind helping," Buffy picks up a piece and examines it "We had try-outs today.

Joyce continued to focus on what she was doing but spoke to Buffy, "Oh, great! How'd it go?"

Buffy kept looking at everything her mother had opened so far "I didn't actually get to try out. There was an accident, pretty fierce competition, though."

"Oh, I know you'll do fine. Keep on pluggin'; just have to get back on the horse." Buffy noticed something about her mother's tone; she wasn't paying full attention and didn't know what she was talking about.

"Mom?" Buffy asked sounding a little sceptical, she was pretty sure her mother was paying no attention what so ever.

"Yeah?" Joyce replied still in an absent minded tone, she was getting frustrated with the box.

Buffy went and got a drink, she knew her mother couldn't answer the question, "What was I trying out for?"

"Oh, uh..." the mother of three was stumped; she stopped prying at the crate and looked at Buffy trying to figure it out, "Some activity? I have no idea, I'm sorry."

"That's okay. Your platitudes are good for all occasions," Buffy said as she heard Dawn coming down the stairs, she wanted to spend time with Dawn tonight seeing as she hadn't spent much time with her since she started high school.

"I'm distracted," Joyce admitted and started prying again and exhaled as she was still struggling to open the crate. "Got a lotta inventory to go through here, this is my Gallery's first major show and I'm glad you girls agreed to help me out it means a lot," she smiled at Buffy but the smile slipped off her face as she exhaled and gave up on the box. "You know, it might not physically kill you to give me a hand here," Joyce said annoyed and decided to check her clipboard again to make sure she had everything.

Dawn entered the kitchen and moved over to the fridge and got a drink, she stood next to Buffy and leant against her slightly, Buffy smiled and wrapped one arm around Dawn as the other went and grabbed the lid of the crate and effortlessly tore it off. "It was cheerleading," Buffy informed her mother, who was now paying attention.

"Oh good! I'm glad you're taking that up again, it'll keep you out of trouble," The mother of three seemed genuinely happy about that but the last part of her statement seemed to confuse Dawn and annoy Buffy. Joyce was lucky Caitlin wasn't there or she would have flown off the handle at her mother, she was still sensitive about that

"I'm not *in* trouble," Buffy replied to her mother tersely, Dawn's face scrunched up in confusion, how would cheerleading keep Buffy out of trouble when all she was whilst being a cheerleader was a bitch when she was a cheerleader. Buffy noticed the expression and caught Dawn's eyes hoping to show she would explain it later; Dawn seemed to understand and nodded.

"No, not yet," the mother replied flippantly as if it were bound to happen. Buffy was hurt by her mother's comment, she didn't realise her mother thought so little of her. Dawn scowled at her mother that was the sort of comment Hank would have made about Caitlin. Joyce looked up from her clipboard and noticed the varied looks she was receiving. "I mean, you stopped cheerleading just before the trouble, so it's good you're going back," She went back to the crate and partially lifted out a statue "Oh, dear" She quickly replaced it in the box

Dawn tried to peer into the box as she spoke to her mother "What?"

Joyce placed the crates lid so Dawn couldn't look into and looked back at her clipboard "The fertility statue, you two don't need to see it." She replaced the crate's lid and went back to her clipboard.

"Y'know, there's this girl, Amy, and, um, she trains with her mom, like, three hours a day," Buffy said trying to be off handed; she wished her mother would seem that interested in what she wanted to do.

Joyce had gone back to being distracted, Dawn shook her head and smiled at that, there mother was working so hard to create a secure future for them "Uh-huh."

Buffy had to add something on to see what her mother would say "Sounds like her mom's pretty into it."

Joyce didn't lift her head but lifted her eyes to look at Buffy "Sounds like her mom doesn't have a lot to do," She sounded slightly apologetic knowing Buffy wanted to spend time with her like that but she just wouldn't know what to do. She walked out of the kitchen with a piece of art.

Buffy walked over to the crate to see what was in it, she lifted the crate's lid a little bit and looked in, "Jeepers! Dawnie don't look in there" she said as she dropped the lid of the crate.

"Why did mom say you being a cheerleader would keep you out of trouble?" Dawnie dived straight into it, she didn't want to beat around the bush and hoped Caitlin wasn't home yet but her hope was in vain.

Caitlin came into the kitchen and got a drink from the fridge just like her sisters had, "mom said what?" she asked as she stood beside Dawn, she had just come home and saw her mother walking into the living room. Buffy and Dawn noticed that Caitlin was relaxed, very relaxed so she must have gone dancing, out of all the activities she did dancing and playing guitar relaxed her the most.

"Not much, Dawnie before I was the slayer I was a cheerleader and I had to stop that to be the slayer...all the 'trouble' relates to being a slayer so she thinks it's because I stopped being a cheerleader, and yes I know you thought I was a bitch," Buffy finished up her drink and threw the bottle in the bin with precision from where she was stood.

Dawn looked at her sister in awe, she always did when something like that happened, hey she was only 10 she could be easily impressed. "Oh," Dawn was mainly clueless when it came to the trouble Caitlin and Buffy got into in LA, she only knew that Caitlin went on an exchange that her dad set up to try and get her out of trouble. "Ooo dad's phoning tonight," Dawn jumped up and down, she liked talking to her dad, she missed him but not the way he acted to her sister, she missed how it was 3 years ago when everything was okay. Buffy was impressed Caitlin managed to keep the disgust from showing on her face when Dawn looked at her. Dawn threw her arms around Caitlin, "are you going to speak to him this time?"

Caitlin was annoyed simply because Hank was going to be calling, she hated hearing that man's voice and it always brought back painful memories. "Not this time Taz," she answered simply as she lifted her sister up and sat her on the counter so she could move away.

"Why not? You never talk to dad," Dawn didn't understand why Caitlin and their father never really got along, maybe because she was the middle child.

"Taz I said no," Caitlin barked from where she was walking, she happened to glance over her shoulder and saw Buffy's frown and Dawn's teary eyes. Caitlin buried her head in her hands and grabbed some of her hair. Buffy wanted to approach Caitlin but she had snapped at Dawn and would be beating herself up and comfort would piss her off. Caitlin breathed deeply to calm down and then turned and dashed back to Dawn and brought her into her arms, "I'm sorry, so sorry Dawnie." Dawn put her head on Caitlin's shoulder; Buffy came over and took the two of them in her arms, now she could comfort Caitlin.

"How about we all go outside for a bit and play around," Buffy suggested as she dropped a kiss top both of her little sister's hair. Both younger sisters didn't pull back from the hug instead Caitlin picked Dawn up and walked outside with Dawn in her arms.

~GU:CM~

Willow saw Caitlin walking into school and knew now was the perfect time to interrupt her and ask a few questions, Willow rushed until she was just behind the lagging blonde and placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention and what happened next was unexpected. Caitlin felt the hand being placed on her shoulder and tensed, quickly she grabbed the hand and twisted it and turned around; she was met by Willows pained face. "Oh goddess...Willow I'm so sorry," she quickly let go and backed away looking horrified.

Willow should have known better than to sneak up on marital artist, they were all jumpy and stuff in the films, "no it-it's okay I shouldn't have snuck up on you...I'm okay." She saw the blonde starting to tear up and didn't know what to do. Caitlin watched Willow subconsciously rub her sore wrist; the tears fell from her eyes and ran down her face, she had hurt her friend after just over a week at being there. Willow saw this and felt her heart go out to the younger teen, she knew Caitlin had been having a hard time and now she had accidently made it worse by sneaking up in her. Without thinking if Caitlin would be uncomfortable she pulled her into a hug, Caitlin tensed immediately from the contact, only family hugged her. The young blonde felt surprisingly comfortable and relaxed, she put her head in the crook of Willow neck and wrapped her arms around the redhead's waist. Willow sucked in a surprised breath but didn't release the hug; she hadn't expected Caitlin to hug her back. Caitlin pulled back after she calmed down and gave Willow a look she could decipher, "Better?" Caitlin nodded as she stepped back "I really am okay Caitlin," she gave the blonde a smile, grabbed her hand and dragged her off to class.

Willow sat in her class after dropping Caitlin off at hers and wondered what had just happened, Caitlin's emotions were wild, one moment she was upset then she was apathetic or angry then remorseful, she didn't understand it. Willow was the first out of class when the bell rang and made her way towards Caitlin's class, she had built up enough confidence to ask but before she could get too far Amy rushed passed her "Hey, Amy!" the girl doesn't acknowledge her as she rushed down the hallway. Willow made her way over to Buffy who was stood looking a little uncomfortable "Is she okay?"

"No, she's, she's wiggin' about her mom, big cheer queen back when," she was still looking uncomfortable but a little bit of understanding was showing in her eyes. Hank had been really hard on Caitlin about her grades and activities because he had disapproved she wasn't doing what he did.

"Yeah, her mom's kinda..." Willow stalled for a second not wanting to be too harsh to Amy's mom but couldn't be too nice about her

Buffy noticed the dilemma and supplied with "...Nazi like?"

"Heil, if she gains an ounce she padlocks the fridge and won't eat anything but broth." She had grown up with Amy and her mom had done some weird things when she gained weight.

"So, mommy dearest is really... Mommy Dearest?" the blonde didn't like the sound of having food locked up, slayer appetite was killer and she ate a lot when it came to food. Buffy usually got Caitlin to make her something; she had taken after their cousin Piper with the love of cooking and baking food, Caitlin was a vegetarian but made great food.

"There's a bitter streak," Willow admitted, Amy's mother was usually bitter and annoyed every time she saw her "But Amy's nice. We used to hang in Junior High, when her mom would go on a broth kick, Amy'd come over to my house and we'd stuff ourselves with brownies!" Buffy's stomach almost grumbled at the thought of brownies, that had clenched it she was getting Caitlin to make her something for dessert.

They started down the hall, aware that they had class "Hey, any word on Amber?" Buffy asked, she remembered Willow saying she was going to look at Amber's records.

Willow could remember everything on Amber's records because they were pretty clean unlike some of the students, she had yet to look at Caitlin's or Buffy's as she didn't want to invade on their privacy and wanted them to tell her. "Nothing thrilling, average student, got detention once, for smoking. Regular smoking... with a cigarette, not, like, being smoky." Buffy hmm'd at the information; it gave them very little about if Amber had done this to herself accidently "All pretty normal," Willow added.

"So we just have to wait and we'll see what happens. Maybe nothing will." Buffy hoped that was true, being the slayer was a pain and it annoyed her she couldn't be normal, it made life that much harder for her as she was her sister's keeper most of the time especially when she had an episode. Willow looked around nervously, she wanted to tell Buffy what happened earlier but wasn't sure if it would get Caitlin in trouble; Buffy noticed "What is it Willow?"

"I uh I ran into Caitlin earlier and she kind of reacted badly to me putting my hand on her shoulder," she didn't meet Buffy's eyes not knowing if she had done wrong.

Buffy sighed knowing Caitlin didn't really like being touched anymore not after what happened to her, "She doesn't really like being touched it's something she's grown into...did she hurt you?" Buffy asked, she saw Willow's eyes close and knew she had "what did she do?" she could now anticipate a blue Caitlin when she next saw her.

"Twisted my wrist but she didn't mean it and apologised," the redhead was defending the younger blonde hoping not to get her in trouble.

Buffy liked that Willow was protecting her sister "Don't worry Willow she won't be in trouble but she might not be very talkative for a while she reacts badly to things like that." They carried on down the hallway until they needed to split up for class. Buffy noticed her sister waiting for her outside of the class and looked up at her with sorrow filled eyes. Buffy put her arm around her sisters shoulder offering silent support and led them into class.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin sat on the counter with Dawn in between her legs, Buffy had taken her to get Dawn from school yesterday and her little sister hadn't left her alone since and neither had Buffy except to patrol. Dawn could sense something was up with Caitlin and Buffy had told her it was because she had accidently injured Willow yesterday, she hated seeing her sister so sad and so hard on herself but couldn't really do anything about it. Buffy pulled out a freshly toasted half of a bagel from the toaster and took it to the island to put some filler on it, she had made sure Caitlin and Dawn ate first and now was eating her breakfast. Their mother walked into the kitchen carrying a book, "Look what I found. It's my yearbook from junior year," Caitlin looked a little confused about what was going on but noticed her older sister didn't and assumed it was what she missed yesterday "Oh, look! There I am." She put the book down on the island and went to get a cup of coffee, but was stopped when Caitlin handed her a full one made exactly how she liked it, "Thank you honey" Joyce dropped a kiss to her middle child's head .

Buffy looked at the picture as she brought the book over to Dawn and Caitlin "Mom, I've accepted that you've had sex. I am not ready to know that you had Farrah hair." Dawn scrunched up her face at the word sex, in her innocent world parents didn't have sex, and storks brought babies, it was less damaging that way. Buffy laughed at Dawn's face, Caitlin didn't seem interested and refused to move her head from where she had placed it on top of Dawn's.

"This is Gidget hair. Don't they teach you anything in history?" Joyce asked as she drank some of her coffee, Dawn had the book and was flicking through it as her mother asked.

Buffy seemed to want to appease her mother "Well, it's really cool, but I gotta book." She didn't want to be late and even if she left now and Caitlin didn't it was a safe bet that Caitlin beat her and she never knew how.

"Well, I was thinking. I know the cheerleading thing didn't work out... Maybe you should think about joining the yearbook staff. I did, it was a lot of fun." Two of her three of her children pulled a face with that one and Joyce looked at them with a 'what?' expression, she didn't know that it was now social suicide to be in the yearbook staff or you had to be overly popular and they were neither.

Buffy left her sisters side and went to the fridge "Not really my tip, mom," She'd let her mother think what she did was cool like a good daughter would, last year she would have told her mother exactly what she thought but she had changed and was less prone to hurting people's feelings.

"I was, uh, photo editor. I got to be on every page, made me look much more popular than I was," She was being awfully pushy in Dawns mind, what was up with her and trying to get Buffy to do things lately.

Her mother left her no choice she had to pull out the big guns, "And have you seen the kids that do yearbook? Nerds pick on them" Buffy walked to her bag getting fed up of what her mother was trying to do, she was disapproving her life and trying to change Buffy into...well her.

Joyce looked positively insulted "Some of the best times I had in school were working on the yearbook!" why oh why was her daughter so stubborn, she had been cursed with the Halliwell stubbornness.

Buffy turned to face her mom hoping to get her message across "Oh, this just in: I'm not you! I'm into my own thing," She didn't get why her mother was being like she was, what actually surprised her was how quiet Caitlin was being, she greatly disliked anyone bad mouthing or annoying herself and Dawn.

The mother of three was more than annoyed with Buffy's comment, it made it seem like there was something wrong with her "Your own thing, whatever it is, got you kicked out of school, and we had to move here to find a decent school that would take you!" her voice raised, not enough to class as a shout. Buffy looked hurt so she took her bag and started to go. "Honey, uhh..." Buffy didn't even turn to acknowledge her mother "Uhh! Great parenting form! Little shaky on the dismount," she sounded disgusted with herself as she turned to look at her younger daughters.

Dawn was pissed off, her mother had no right to throw that into Buffy's face, not after how her big sister had been trying her hardest to change "That was harsh mom, you're lucky Caitlin isn't aware of what is happening right now or you'd have to deal with all three of us," Dawn disentangled herself from her sister and took her hand leading her away from the kitchen. Joyce hung her head, she had insulted Buffy, annoyed Dawn and as Dawn said was lucky Caitlin wasn't very aware of what was going on or she would have to watch Buffy restrain Caitlin.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin had walked Dawn to school and had almost been late, she was lucky Buffy had tagged along or she wouldn't have made it to school, she just wasn't up to it. She was currently sat in the library a little more aware of her world than she had been earlier; Buffy had informed them that Cordelia had lost her eyesight. Caitlin was stood next to Willow and was very interested in what they were talking about..."Witchcraft, blinding your enemy to disorient and disable them is, its classic!"

"First vampires, now witches, No wonder you can still afford a house in Sunnydale." Xander announced loudly, Caitlin's head shot in his direction and she glared, no one bad mouthed witches they weren't bad only a when they choose to be. Buffy rubbed Caitlin's back calming her as Willow grabbed her hand almost to restrain her, Xander looked taken back but when Caitlin calmed down she gave Xander an apologetic shrug to which he nodded back.

"Why should someone want to harm Cordelia?" she was no threat to anyone, sure she was the top dog on the popular scale but she had no knowledge of this world or powers that they knew of.

"Maybe because they met her?" Willow asked with a hint of anger in her voice, she had no idea where this new confidence came from but it was actually slightly scary. The other people in the library looked at her in shock; Xander had never heard Willow talk like that before. Caitlin and Buffy were feeling slightly smug knowing she hadn't said things like that before and it was since they had been there. "Did I say that?" Willow asked in a shocked tone.

"And setting Amber ablaze?" asked Giles trying to ignore his shock, he wasn't going to show it outwards knowing that teenagers often changed their moods and attitude very quickly.

Xander had done some asking around about Amber and he knew all about Cordelia's friends seeing as they had all picked on him more than once a week, "Yeah, those guys don't hang..." Willow knew they didn't either and nodded in agreement with him.

"They're both cheerleaders," Buffy surmised, even if they didn't hang they still did the same activity and saw each other. She should know all about cheerleaders she had been since she had been able too.

"Someone doesn't like cheerleading," Caitlin remarked as she absently rubbed her thumb over Willow's hand, the blonde hadn't noticed she was doing it but the redhead did but didn't stop it. Willow was almost ready to explode from questions; Caitlin sure was a strange one.

Buffy decided to counter that "Or likes it too much," she used to be under that category until the slaying gig started and it had actually caused her and Caitlin to fall out majorly, enough for Caitlin to spend time with Grams and their cousins. Caitlin had come back jumpy around her and Buffy felt terrible for it.

"Amy!" Buffy and Willow exclaimed one after the other, everyone seemed to think and it did fit from what Amy had said about her mother and her obsession with cheerleading. Willow and Buffy had talked about Amy mother's behaviour about getting out of shape and everything so maybe she was doing it out of fear.

"So, you guys are leaning towards Amy?" Xander clarified seeing as they had both said Amy's name. He couldn't really see her doing it but he now knew better than to take things at face value.

"She's desperate to get on that team, and I've got this feeling she'd do just about anything to make her mom's dream come true," Buffy responded with a hint of upset and knowing. Caitlin looked at Buffy in confusion not knowing what she was talking about, had their mother said something. Buffy saw Caitlin looking bewildered but didn't elaborate, she didn't want Caitlin and their mother fighting seeing as Caitlin relied heavily on mother.

Giles didn't seem to get the thought process of the teenagers, who it their right mind would cast spells for a cheerleading spot, "Uh, let me make sure I have this right. This witch is casting horrible and disfiguring spells so that she can become a cheerleader?" his voice was thick with disbelief. Teenagers these days, he huffed mentally.

Caitlin seemed to understand his belief "I think you're underestimating the amount of pressure a parent can lay on you." Or older cousins Caitlin added but didn't vocalise it, Prue had always tried to get them all to excel and sometimes went a bit over the top.

"If you're not a picture perfect carbon copy they tend to wig." Buffy added at the end of her sister's sentence, she had experienced that this morning.

Willow supplied the information she had given Buffy the day before "Cheerleading was kind of her mom's last hurrah." Giles seemed to be getting it now, when she was in school it was always his grades and attendance.

Xander seemed to be getting antsy and he wanted to stop Amy. Caitlin looked at him but didn't tilt her head, she knew that if she did he would get suspicious about what she was doing, the tilt of her head was a dead giveaway that she was thinking "Look, we still have to stop Amy. We should grab her and..." he never got to finish.

The older male interrupted the younger male before he got ahead of himself "I think we should be sure she's the witch before we arouse her suspicions. She's, she's capable of some fairly unpleasant things."

"Okay, alright," Buffy got up as she continued to speak "so, you're in high school, you are desperate to make the team and please your mom, so you turn to witchcraft. What's the first thing you're gonna do?" she looked at her little sister for an answer, she was the one reading up on stuff and Buffy knew she was smart.

"Check out the books on witchcraft," Caitlin supplied, that's what she would do if it were up to her and she didn't have books on witchcraft which she actually did. Caitlin turned to look at Willow, she was the one who did the computer stuff. The younger sister would do it herself but she couldn't be asked.

Willow nodded she got up and both her and Buffy go over to the computer to access the on-line library card catalog. Xander quickly tried to shot the idea down, "Uh, no! No, that would be the *last* thing you would do! You don't wanna leave a paper trail. Forget that!" the brunette seemed overly anxious about checking something that really wouldn't take long.

"It'll just take a minute," the redhead responded absently as she started to pull the records up.

Xander got up and stood behind them, "We don't have a minute! Cheerleaders are in danger, Buffy's in danger." Xander then directly addressed Buffy, Caitlin looked on in amusement "You were the first alternate; you are on the team now that Cordelia's out. You could be next. We gotta get you to a safe house." Despite the seriousness of his voice Caitlin couldn't help but cough a laugh, she saw Giles rolling his eyes and it was clear that Xander's crush was obvious to everyone but Buffy.

"Xander..." Willow trailed off wanting him to stop and to get his attention, she still couldn't really believe she had a crush on him and couldn't believe that the crush had gone so quickly. Willow couldn't understand it really but Xander just no longer appealed to her, mentally shrugging she carried on with what she was doing.

"Yeah," the named male replied.

Willow exhaled and read the monitor "'Witches: Historic Roots to Modern Practice,' Checked out by Alexander Harris."

Buffy read the next one out "'The Pagan Rites', checked out by Alexander..."

"I wouldn't think that was your sort of thing Xander," Caitlin said after hearing both of the titles of the book. She highly doubted it was for the actually information, he didn't seem like the extra reading type so it was probably just the pictures.

"Alright, alright, it's not what you think" he hoped Buffy and Caitlin didn't think it was him, he had only known then for about a week after all so they might jump to conclusions, his worry was obviously for nothing when Willow spoke up.

"You like to look at the semi-nude engravings?" Willow suggested with raised brows, she knew what he was like and semi-nude girls was a given for the slightly older male.

"Oh, well, uh, I-I guess it *is* what you think" he remarked clearly relieved that Willow had said that but slightly embarrassed she said it in front of Buffy, Caitlin and Giles. Xander flinched under Caitlin's gaze but not knowing what she was annoyed about, Buffy motioned Caitlin to come over and the blonde acknowledged it and was pulled into a calming hug by Buffy.

"Have you all quite finished? We have to find a conclusive test. There may be something in here..." Giles started to flip through the pages of his book

Caitlin didn't let him finish trying to find the test before she was sprouting off information "You'll need some of her hair, a little quicksilver and some aqua fortis," Grams had taught her that test and only so she could decide and get knowledge of witches around her.

Willow translated them into common day items "Well, that's just mercury and nitric acid, you can get that in the science lab," The others were shocked that Caitlin knew of a test. Giles shook his head to clear it; he could talk to Caitlin about it later

Giles finished flipping through pages and found the specific test and read the ingredients out "Heat ingredients and apply to witch, and if a spell has been cast in the previous 48 hours, witch's skin turns blue.' Hmm," he shut the book "Oh and you'll need some Eye of Newt."

Caitlin nodded as the other three looked at her wondering how she knew, Buffy hadn't known that her sister was into reading up on witchcraft but it made sense because some of her books were really old and in Latin, "Well I'd love to go with you but I have a meeting with the school councillor."

Buffy frowned and pulled Caitlin over to the side showing the others this was a family matter, "What? Why do you have to meet with the councillor?" Buffy asked, she had thought all of this was behind them.

"Buff they have to see if I need any sessions and hopefully they will say I won't 'cause you and I both know I won't survive if I have to talk about this shit," Buffy nodded and noticed her sister was more like herself but was very tense and agitated so she decided to leave it without too much questioning.

"Alright but meet us outside science if it takes that long alright?" she needed to be sure her little sister would be okay. Caitlin saw the worry and tried to relax but she couldn't so she just nodded and hugged her big sister, without looking at the others she released her sister and left.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin punched the wall as she turned the corner, the councillor had really pissed her off and the demand for her to have a session twice a week was her undoing, she already had two sessions outside of school and like hell was she doing it in school and missing lessons. She noticed Buffy, Willow and Xander walking out of class and quickly approached and threw her arms around Buffy and breathed in her scent. "Did you see? Amy was as freaked out as the rest of us," Xander said as he looked at Caitlin then back to Buffy.

"So it's not her?" Willow asked as she subconsciously brought her hand to Caitlin's back and rubbed it soothingly hoping to calm the younger girl down, only Caitlin did the opposite and completely tensed but it was not noticed by anyone other than Buffy.

"The test was positive! She's our Sabrina. I just don't think she realizes what she's doing," Buffy pointed out as she wrapped her arms around Caitlin, she would ask what's wrong in a minute, they had to discuss this Amy problem first. Buffy already guessed it was to do with the councillor.

Willow brought her hand up to play with Caitlin's hair, she obviously didn't know she was doing it or she would have blushed at least 12 shades of red before stuttering an apology "Well, should we talk to her?"

Buffy felt Caitlin relax minutely at Willow playing with her hair and then relaxed further into her hold; Buffy put her chin on Caitlin's shoulder, "Maybe we should talk to her mother, I wonder if *she* knows what she's created."

Caitlin pulled back and looked at her sister and Buffy stared back into the eyes which matched hers "Buff," her voice was rough and strained.

Buffy brushed her sister's bangs out of her eyes and pulled back far enough so her little sisters arms fell down and Buffy grabbed her hand and rubbed her thumb over Caitlin's knuckles, "Yeah baby?" she wasn't going to interrogate her if she wasn't ready for talking.

"They want me to have two sessions!" Caitlin shouted through clenched teeth hoping it wouldn't be too loud. Willow's hand dropped to Caitlin's back again, she shared a look with Xander clearly worried why Caitlin needed counselling. "That bitch had the nerve to comment on Grams and you," Caitlin whined as she gripped Buffy's hands a little tighter. Buffy sighed and pulled her sister into her arms again, Willows hand fell down to her side and she looked shocked by her actions and blushed.

Buffy noticed the blush but didn't comment, she wondered if Willow was attracted to her sister and the wondered if her sister was attracted to Willow and that's why she hadn't pushed further into her embrace when Willow touched her back, sighing she pressed a kiss to her sisters temple, "C'mon lets go tell Giles about our in house Witch."

Caitlin stood outside of Buffy's room, her face was in between disgust and amusement, the room was a bit of a mess and that was what Caitlin was making the face at. Buffy was still sleeping, but Caitlin knew the alarm was going to go off so she pushed herself from the door frame and went into Dawn's room. Dawn was spread eagled on her stomach and her head was buried under the pillow, Caitlin chuckled as she approached the bed and sat on the edge, Caitlin leant forward and picked the pillow up from Dawn's head and bopped Dawn over the head with it. Dawn groaned in protest and pushed her hand out hoping to push, whoever was on the bed, off. She opened her eyes when she heard Caitlin laughing and at seeing her sister happy she rolled her eyes and playfully glared, "What was that for?" she asked as she rolled onto her back and sat up.

"It's time to get up and ready for school," Caitlin said ruffling her baby sisters hair and when Dawn swung half-heartedly at her she moved out of the way with a laugh, "Mom will be making breakfast so up," Caitlin left the room chuckling at hearing Dawn grumbling about mornings. Caitlin skipped down the stairs and saw her mother making orange juice, "Hey mom have you seen one of my wristbands, I can't find any?" she asked sliding onto a kitchen stool.

"Sorry sweetheart but I haven't, is it that important," most of Joyce's attention was on the juice but she was still aware that Caitlin's face screwed up signalling it was. Joyce didn't know why but since Prue had bought her some during their stay she always wore one on her right wrist.

Caitlin got up and made her way towards the laundry pile "Kinda, it's good luck and I need it," so it wasn't the truth but her mother probably couldn't handle that right now.

Joyce was still making fresh-squeezed orange juice when Buffy came in dancing and singing "Macho, macho, man! I want to be a macho man. Macho... Oh, hey, juice!" Buffy picked up the glass and downed it in one; Caitlin came back into the kitchen adjusting a wristband on her left wrist, with a pentagram on it, until she found it comfortable "Mm...Quality juice, not from concentrate!"

Joyce glanced at Buffy, her mood completely different from last night when they almost argued "You're in a good mood," she said cautiously. Caitlin nodded along with her mother; Buffy was in a very different mood than when she came in from slaying last night.

Buffy nodded "I am! I'm on the squad, which is great, 'cause I feel like cheering and leading others to cheer. Ooo, hey, juice!" Caitlin gave Buffy a strange look as she took the second glass and drank it.

"Listen, honey, about yesterday, I really..." Joyce started as she saw that Buffy was in a good mood but she was interrupted.

Buffy didn't let her mother finish, yesterday was the past and today was the present, "Mm! That is totally yester, besides, it's not like you were wrong, y'know I did get us kicked outta school. I'm just wacky that way!" the nonchalance was starting to annoy Caitlin, she knew how much it affected her and yet she's acting like it didn't matter!

"Still, I just want you to know that, despite the problems you've had, I really..." Joyce tried again but Buffy was going to adamant about it obviously.

Buffy cut her off again, "Mom you just don't get it and, believe me, you don't want it. Y'know, there are just some things about being a Vampire Slayer that the older generation..." she didn't get to finish this time

"A what?" Joyce asked sounding confused and slightly on edge, what was her eldest daughter going on about. Caitlin's eyes widened as Buffy actually told their mother what she was, Dawn had chosen that point to walk in and her eyes were wide as well, what the hell was wrong with Buffy.

"It's a... long story," Buffy covered up still as hyper as she was when she first arrived in the kitchen. Nothing was going to bother her today, she nodded to herself.

Joyce was a bit concerned for Buffy seeing as she was acting like Caitlin when she forgot her Lithium and Dawn mixed together, "Buffy, are you feeling well?"

"What? Oh, I'm, I'm fine, y'know? What, like, I can't be in a good mood? Is it, like, a new house rule? Fine y'know? It's just fine, fine, fine, 'cause...I'm a macho, macho man! I want to be a macho man! Macho, macho man!" Buffy bobs her head along to her singing and headed out of the kitchen, she carried on singing as she leaves the house "I want to be a macho man!"

Caitlin got up slowly, "I think I should follow her just in case this wackiness ends up with her streaking the school or something." Her mother and sister chuckled lightly but she could hear an undertone of worry in there, she quickly headed out of the door after scooping her bag up and ran after Buffy who was actually skipping to school. Today was gonna be a strange day, Caitlin mentally decided as she grabbed Buffy's hand and dragged her to school at a quick pace.

~GU:CM~

"I'm telling you she's acting weird!" Caitlin said as she dragged Xander and Willow to the gym where Buffy was practising, she had been in a few lessons with her sister and she was all peppy, too peppy for her liking and she liked her sister happy but she could only handle so much.

Xander shot her a look, "your reasoning is that she's too peppy...she's a cheerleader she has to be all spirited." The male was along for the ride just to see Buffy in action; he personally thought that she was over reacting.

Buffy noticed they had walked in and started to jump around gleefully, Caitlin was reminded of the time she caught Paige doing drugs. Caitlin couldn't help but feel like something had happened to Buffy last night whilst she was sleeping "Willow! Xander! My buds are here! I love my buds! Hi!" the whole squad looked at her as if she had lost it and Xander and Willow matched that look, "Hi... Oh..." She got back in line, and the routine continued.

Xander turned to Willow and took Caitlin's sentiment from earlier "Is it me, or is Buffy a bit looped?" he asked and got a very evil look from Caitlin, she had just said that and he had shot her down.

Willow shot a worried gaze, something told her this was going to go down right now, the cheerleaders continued with their routine. "We better get her outta there," she didn't want to know what Buffy could do in her dippy state.

"Yeah, before she..." Xander doesn't get to finish his sentence before it actually happened Buffy overthrew Joy's aerial and it sent her crashing into the gym wall.

"...hurts someone. Goddess" Caitlin finished for him and knew this was not a good thing; she had just used slayer strength accidently. It had taken Buffy a while to get used to Slayer strength when she first got it and it was like she was new to it all over again.

Joy got up as Buffy came running over looking strangely bewildered that she had sent a girl bigger than her sailing across the gym, it didn't register that she had used her slayer strength it didn't even seem like she knew she was the slayer "Did I do that?"

The three non-cheerleaders could clearly see the anger on Joy's face, yeah Buffy wasn't going to be in the squad for much longer, "You are *so* out of here!" Joy shouted getting right in Buffy's face.

Willow and Xander came running up and each grabbed one of Buffy's arms, they needed to get her to Giles something was clearly wrong. Caitlin stayed where she was but called out to Joy to take the attention off of her sister "It's not her fault!" Joy looked over at Caitlin with an explain look.

Xander took the unspoken question "She's on medication," Willow saw Caitlin stiffen at that from over by the entrance.

"What?" the now ditzy blonde looked at Xander as if he were speaking in tongues, she wasn't on medication...was she? Mentally shrugging she went back to the conversation. She was supposed to take medication then bad her for forgetting.

Caitlin heard the gym doors open and turned around to see Amy walking through looking mixed between apprehension and confusion, from what Buffy had told her last night she knew that Amy knew what that test had done and she was worrying about how the gang would act. "Well, obviously not enough. Who's our next alternate?" Joy saw Amy by the entrance, "Oh Amy, you just made cheerleader," Amy carried on walking into the gym but looked away from Caitlin, who didn't turn to face them but followed her with her head.

Buffy doesn't like that, a witch shouldn't be on the squad it was cheating in her eyes and she decided she must speak up, "No, no, no. You don't want her, she's a wi..."

Xander quickly put his hand over Buffy's mouth; yeah she was defiantly not in her right mind if she almost blabbed about Amy being a witch to the whole gym. "A wise choice indeed!" he finished Buffy's sentence with that not wanting Amy to know they were on to her. Even if she really was, Amy just thought the danger was Buffy and not her little sister, she was seriously wrong. He and Willow pull Buffy away, nodding and casting nervous smiles at Amy and Joy. Amy stared after them and eventually focused on Caitlin who frowned and followed her sister, she wasn't anything to worry about but Buffy was.

Caitlin walked quickly to catch up with Willow and Xander, who were now supporting Buffy between them as they tried to go to the library, "She's a witchy!" she announced loudly relieved she could now say it and Caitlin watched as she walked with a mix between a bounce and a stumble.

"Buffy..." Willow started worrying over what was happening to Buffy but couldn't finish because she didn't know what was wrong. She looked over her shoulder to where Caitlin was trailing behind and saw the younger blonde frowning in worry, Willow tried to send her a reassuring smile but she wasn't sure how reassuring it was when it felt more like she was grimacing. Caitlin knew what Willow was trying to do so when she caught up to her she placed her hand on Willow's back as well as Buffy's.

The latter of the two loved over their shoulder and their little sister, "I just got kicked off the team, didn't I?" she asked with a pout.

Caitlin chocked out a half laugh as tears welled up in her eyes "Yeah Buff ya kinda did," she sent Buffy a small smile when her sister frowned, Buffy had noticed the tears and wondered what they were about.

"I don't think it was your fault," Xander added drawing the blonde's attention away from each other as they both focused on him.

"Hmm, I know you don't, that's 'cause you're my friend. You're my Xander-shaped friend!" Buffy leans her head on his shoulder and peers up at him, "Do you have any idea why I love you so, Xander?"

Willow decided to tell Xander and Caitlin where to go even if they knew, she needed to say something so she could feel like she was helping "We gotta to get her to a..." she never got to finish.

Xander makes a gesture to stop Willow from speaking, "Let her speak!" he says slightly louder than how Willow was speaking, he wanted to know what Buffy wants to say.

"I'll tell you! You're not like other boys at all," Buffy said proud that she got to speak to Xander and tell him how she felt, speaking about your feelings was good for the soul, Buffy nodded to herself.

"Well..." Xander said bashfully, he liked to hear Buffy's praise about him and hoped it would mean more eventually. He had a major crush on Buffy since the first second he laid eyes on her as she walked towards the school and he hit a railing.

Buffy went in the opposite direction from what Xander was hoping, "You are totally, and completely one of the girls!" Caitlin snorted through her tears and Buffy turned to Willow, "I'm that comfy with him." Willow smiled widely; she found it funny that Buffy thought of Xander as a girl.

"That's great," Xander replied half-heartedly.

The blonde carried on talking regardless of what Xander had just said "Any other guy who'd give me a bracelet, they'd... wanna date me, and be like a..." she trailed of and stumbled more, she began to feel woozy and started to go pale "Oh! I, I don't feel so good."

"Buffy?" Caitlin asked as she peered at Buffy, she noticed her sister was pale and starting to sweat, without warning Buffy collapsed backwards into her little sisters arms. "Shit Buffy!" Caitlin called out in alarm "We need to get her to Giles," Caitlin said as she hoisted Buffy into a standing position and picked her up with great amount of effort.

"I think I should carry her," Xander said and put his arms out for her for Buffy. Caitlin's eyebrows pulled together, she didn't want to hand her big sister over to this hormone driven male, Caitlin closed her eyes and passed Buffy over to Xander and started taking deep breathed and changed her thoughts as she had started to wind herself up. Xander started off towards the library and Willow grabbed Caitlin's hand and watched the green eyes focus on her own and tugged until Caitlin started to follow her.

Caitlin stopped just inside of the library and lent against the wall, "Caitlin?" Willow asked feeling resistance on her arm, she turned in time to see Caitlin slide down to the ground and let go of Willow's hand. Willow bent down and picked Caitlin's head up and saw the tears running down her cheeks "Buffy's going to be alright," Willow wiped the tears from Caitlin's cheeks and leant forward to place a kiss on her forehead. Caitlin looked shocked as Willow pulled back but let out a little smile before it dropped off. Willow stood up and held her hands out for Caitlin, the blonde took the hands and let Willow led her into Giles office. Buffy was lying back in a chair with a wet cloth on her forehead. Willow walked in to support her head and kept the cloth in place with her hand "We've gotta get her to a hospital!" she panicked.

Caitlin walked over and Buffy grabbed blindly for her hand, Caitlin allowed Buffy to find her hand and felt her sister weakly tugging at it and she got the hint. She sat on the edge of the chair and ran her hand up and down her sister's arm, "They can't help her."

"Quite right" Giles agreed with Caitlin "This is a bloodstone vengeance spell." Caitlin's head shot up, she knew what a vengeance spell entailed. Giles took Buffy's pulse, "Hits the body hard like a, a quart of alcohol, and then it e-eradicates the, uh, immune system," Caitlin gripped Buffy's hand and felt her applying pressure back.

"A vengeance spell, like she's trying to get even with Buffy?" Xander asked from the corner of the room, Buffy had woken up as soon as he entered the library and she was just getting worse.

"'Cause she knows I know she's a witch," Buffy croaked feeling beyond weak and ill, nothing was focusing clearly and her limbs felt like lead.

"The others she just wanted out of the running. You she intends to, um..." Giles didn't really want to say it out loud, didn't want to believe that it was happening to the slayer already after a mere week of being her watcher.

Buffy finished his sentence for him, "Kill?" Buffy looked at Caitlin but her sister wouldn't meet her eyes instead she dropped head and brought her free hand to cover her eyes, a clear sign she was or had been crying.

"How much time do we have?" Willow asked barely above a whisper, she was concerned for Buffy's health and Caitlin's mental health.

"Oh, uh, I'm sure, uh..." once again Giles didn't want to say not when Caitlin looked to be on the verge of breaking down, Buffy shouldn't have to know but he guessed it would be best if he did tell her.

Buffy could see his reasoning but she needed to know, Caitlin needed to know how long she had left with her big sister "Truth, Please."

Giles sighed and glanced quickly at Caitlin who still had her head down, "Couple of hours...Three at most," he responded regretfully.

"Well, how do we reverse the spell?" Xander questioned desperately needing to save Buffy, he wasn't ready to lose her and he guessed Willow wasn't either. Xander placed his hand on Caitlin's shoulder trying to be supportive, Caitlin tensed minutely but it went unnoticed by everyone.

Giles got up from his place beside Buffy and looked at Xander "Well I, I've been researching that, and, uh, we can reverse all the spells if, um...we can just lay our hands on, on Amy's spell book," Giles took his glasses of and rubbed his eyes in frustration, this was not going to be easy

"And if we can't get a hold of it?" Willow asked she didn't have knowledge of witchcraft.

Caitlin looked up and looked at Buffy, who was looking back at her with concern, and then she looked up at Willow "then we can't reverse it." Willow was taken aback by Caitlin's knowledge of the arts.

"Well, the other way is to cut the witch's head off," he too was surprised by how much Caitlin seemed to know. Giles put his glasses back on and looked back at Caitlin who was staring into Buffy's eyes.

Xander spoke up in favour of that plan "Show of hands!" he raised his hand as an added incentive just in case anyone was confused, he used the hand that was resting on Caitlin's should and Caitlin relaxed.

"It's not Amy's fault, she only became a witch to survive her mother." Buffy's voice was weak and started to fade out towards the end of the sentence showing how weak she was becoming.

"Look, I don't care why, I just care that you go on breathing," Xander replied to Buffy's statement, Caitlin nodded her head to that and so did Willow. Buffy had to live; Caitlin wouldn't if her sister died.

"Giles, where would she be casting these spells?" she asked Giles hoping that he would know, what she didn't expect was for Caitlin to answer the question.

"Oh, she needs a sacred place where she can use a casting circle; she'll also need a cauldron an altar and probably a Grimoire," Caitlin replied absent-mindedly as she stroked her sister's arm, she had warned them it was magic but hadn't got into too much detail; after all it was a secret about how she knew.

"Her home, Okay Help me up," Buffy reasoned and tried to lift her arms up for them to help

Caitlin and Willow helped her up, and Caitlin went as far as to wrap her arm around Buffy's waist and put Buffy's arm around her shoulder. "We'll just go to her house and we'll get her book."

"Okay, we'll go with you," Willow started to head for the door wanting to go with Giles and Buffy but she was quickly stopped.

"Uh, no! You guys stay here and keep an eye on Amy," she didn't need Amy putting spells on them as well and seeing as she was already cursed she might as well go.

Giles stepped forward and tried to take Buffy from Caitlin "And keep her away from the science lab. We'll need it to cast our counter-spells," he wrapped his arm around Buffy's waist but Caitlin didn't let go.

"Like hell am I staying her when my sister is dying!" Caitlin argued vehemently, she had always stuck by Buffy's side and it wasn't going to change.

"Alright" Giles replied when Buffy failed to, the slayer slumped even further into their hold.

Giles, Caitlin and Buffy left leaving Willow and Xander looking worried over Buffy's condition.

~GU:CM~

Giles' old car pulled up to Amy's house, Giles turned to look at Caitlin cradling Buffy to her. "Let's hope that her mother can shed some light over what Amy's been doing," Caitlin nodded and watched Giles get out of the car and approach the back passenger door so he could help Caitlin get Buffy out of the car. Giles grabbed the cursed blonde and supported her whilst Caitlin shut the car door and rushed up to the front door and knocked, Giles approached at a slower rate because of Buffy. Caitlin gets impatient by the time Giles is next to her and knocks on the door some more, she turned and looked at her sister, Buffy looked very tired and out of it, barely keeping her eyes open. Giles knocked the next time and Amy's mother Catherine opened the door.

"Who are you? Wha, um, uh, is there something wrong?" Catherine didn't seem comfortable with the three in front of her and she sounded different from how Buffy had illustrated her earlier in the library, something was definitely wrong.

"Mrs Madison, we need to talk to you about your daughter," Giles told the women in front of him hoping that she would let them in because he doubted that Buffy could carry on standing for much longer

"I'm not allow..." Catherine started but rethought what she was going to say and started again "You'll have to come back later." She tried to close the door, but Caitlin prevented her and pushed her way in with Giles following closely.

Giles muttered under his as he made his way in "Excuse us!" Caitlin didn't say anything.

Catherine looked shocked and confused about what was happening "What?" she didn't want them in the house; if they were in the house then they were all in trouble.

Giles didn't pay her any attention as he turned to talk to Buffy, he was also keeping an eye on Caitlin for any negative reactions, and he had looked her file up and saw what had happened after the incident in LA. "You alright?" he looked for a place to for her to sit, "In here," he lead Buffy into the living room and addresses Catherine as he sets Buffy down onto the couch "Your daughter is meddling with something very dangerous, are you aware of that?"

Catherine decides to play dumb, it was probably safer if she did "Uh, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you know only too well," Caitlin replies eyeing the skittish woman standing by the entrance, it seemed as if she was nervous about them finding something out.

"You've got to go. She's gonna be home soon, and you..." her response only seemed to make Caitlin's statement more believable, she was afraid of her own daughter and wasn't very good at hiding it.

Giles interrupted Catherine and pointed towards Buffy and started speaking to Catherine in a very angry tone, "This girl is very sick. Now you will shut up and you will listen to me! Your daughter has access to some very powerful magicks, and somehow your obsession with cheerleading has made..."

Catherine decided to interrupt Giles before he got even further away from the truth "I don't care about cheerleading! It's not my fault she's doing stuff," her face should her incredulous.

Buffy looked around whilst her watcher and her sister and her eyes rested on a plate of brownies shoved under the coffee table and began to realize who Catherine really was, she turned to face the three still talking and saw Caitlin turn to look at her and raised a brow at her.

"As her mother you should assume some responsibility for her actions," Giles lectured her as if she didn't know; Buffy supposed that she didn't know.

Catherine laughed humourlessly "Well, you know, these kids today! I..." she lost her hysterical nature and she started to calm down, she started to realise these people could help her "She's out of her mind. Ever since dad, her dad... left I can't control her," she finished sounding tired.

Buffy slowly started to get up ignoring the look that Caitlin was giving her, Caitlin started to approach her but Buffy put her hand up showing she was fine. Caitlin sighed as she stopped and stuffed her hands into her jean pockets pouting slightly, Buffy just smiled at her as she continued to get up.

"You're afraid of her?" Giles asked finally figuring out her reluctance to talk.

"Amy?" Buffy croaked out her question, she really wasn't feeling too well and hated to admit but she was suffering from Vertigo, she really should have let Caitlin help but she was not going to appear weak in front of her needing little sister. Catherine looked at Buffy and realized she had been found out, Caitlin scrunched her brow and Giles looked puzzled at Buffy.

"Are you Amy?" Caitlin turned to fully face 'Amy' who nodded jerkily, not really know what to say.

Giles turned from Buffy and looked back at Catherine "I don't understand," he admitted, if this was Amy then where was her mother? It hadn't occurred to him what the obvious answer would be.

Caitlin looked and sounded disgusted when she next spoke, "She switched! She switched your bodies, didn't she?" Amy looked down feeling defeated, she had tried to keep up the facade as her mother had asked but she couldn't deny who she really was.

"Good Lord!" Giles exclaimed as everything came into light, a part of his brain was wondering how Caitlin knew all about witchcraft and magic.

"She wanted to relive her glory days," Buffy muttered sitting down again, she was thinking about the conversation she had with Willow about how Catherine was about her figure and cheerleading, it all made sense.

Amy looked up at the three people who could help her, "She said I was wasting my youth, so she took it," she still sounded defeated but they could detect a hint of hope in her voice. Caitlin moved and sat behind Buffy and pulled her to her chest liking the fact that she could feel her sisters breathing, reassuring herself that she was still alive. Giles motioned for Amy to sit down so they could talk and when they were all situated Amy continued talking but now she sounded distraught, "I didn't know anything about her powers. I mean, when dad was here they would fight and yell and he would... call her a witch and... I mean, I would, just thought he meant... Oh, God, when he left I wanted to go with him. But she wouldn't even let me call. She went crazy, I mean, she'd lock herself upstairs for days, and she was always coming down on me, telling me I didn't deserve to have it so easy, and that I didn't know... how hard it was to be her, and... I guess she showed me, huh?" she trailed off she was confused, tired, distraught and desperate.

"Amy, it's gonna be okay," the Slayer grabbed at Amy's hand but didn't really have the strength to do anything with it, Amy squeezed it in appreciation.

"A few months ago, I woke up in h... her bed! I didn't know where I was, and... then I looked in the mirror..." she finished her tale with the little amount of strength Buffy seemed to lend her, even if she barely had enough of her own

"She locked herself upstairs?" Giles asked looking mixed between confused and relieved, she knew most witches would have their own space to perform spells but he didn't know if it would be there

"Yes" Amy answered looking fearful; she didn't what to go anywhere near her mother's things.

"Where?" the Watcher asked as he stood up, Caitlin shot up from her space next to her sister and approached Amy, she could tell she was fearful. She felt magical remnants through the house near the centre of the house.

Amy watched the young girl approach, "Your mother would lock herself in the Attic wouldn't she? She would ban you from ever going in there but she would spend hours there and when she came out the smell of sandalwood would hit your nose and then some foul smells afterwards?" Caitlin asked sounding very much like an expert. Amy furrowed her brows, how had she known all of that? Caitlin looked at her sister then back at Giles, "Stay with Buffy, Amy with me." She headed for the stairs.

"Wait a moment, you shouldn't be going near this stuff," Giles grabbed Caitlin's arm as she walked past him, she levelled him with a glare and he lets go, "Or I could stay?" he asked feeling uncomfortable with her glare, she smirked and nodded then headed towards the stairs. Amy led her to the attic and stopped back not wanting to be anywhere near it, Caitlin quickly assessed the door and could tell it didn't have a weak points so she stepped back and raised her foot to kick by the handle and the door flew open. She knew what she was looking for and moved into the attic, she couldn't suppress the shudder that ripped through her; a lot of dark magic had been casted in there.

Amy followed her in but with the intent to stop her, "Don't! If she finds out I've been here she'll kill me!" she was too young to die even if she was caught in her mother's older body. Little did Amy or anyone really know that Caitlin knew a lot about magic, she had been raised with the knowledge and only three people knew and one of which was dead, two if she got technical.

Caitlin walked around the cauldron to the rack with the hanging dolls; they had been used as a focus point for the spells, voodoo dolls almost. He saw the two dolls bound together for the body-switching spell but didn't touch them for fear of a warning spell being placed on them; she still needed to find everything else. "Goddess," she exhaled, Amy's mother knew a lot about magic and that worried her "I think we can reverse what your mom's done Amy."

Amy seemed ecstatic with that she wanted to be her 16 year old self again and go to school without fear of her mother "You could? Really, you could?"

"Yeah but we need to find her Grimoire or other reference books," it was most likely other reference books the spells ranged from body switching to vengeance spells and whilst Amy's mother seemed knowledgeable nothing was personalised it was all simple read and perform spells . She looked around for a stand or somewhere to store books and found a trunk; she knocked off the things on top. "Amy I need you to collect those dolls, and, uh, any other personal effects from the victims your mother might have used but be careful" As she started to open the trunk, a black cat jumped at her, she jumped slightly but expected it, the cat was her familiar. Caitlin stroked the cat and picked her up, the cat bristled but allowed it, "you're a good cat aren't you protecting your witch but let's see what you were guarding," she opened the trunk and saw a Grimoire in with other spell casting equipment, the Grimoire surprised her but she grabbed it anyway. She faced Amy and motioned to the door, they rushed back down into the living room.

"Did we find?" Buffy whispered, she was fading fast but she was trying to be strong for her sister.

"We found, come on" Caitlin couldn't look at her sister like that and headed straight for the car whilst Giles helped the weakening Slayer up from the couch.

"But where are you going?" Amy asked as she watched Caitlin rush to the car and then looked at Giles for an answer,

"We're going to school," absent-mindedly as he realised that Buffy was too weak to walk on her own and scooped her up into his arms. He looked at Amy as he added "And you're coming with us."

~GU:CM~

It hadn't taken them long to get back to school, there was virtually no traffic which the Englishmen was glad for. Caitlin took the lead knowing they had to get to the science labs so Giles can make the spell, Giles carried Buffy in to the science lab and led her down on a lab table; Caitlin came over and knocked everything off of it as he led her down. Giles rushed over to the front so he could start the spell, Amy stood off to the side watching what Giles was doing. Caitlin took off her jumper and draped it over Caitlin "We're gonna stop this. I promise...You just hang on, please" Caitlin dropped her forehead onto Buffy's as the blonde moaned, her vision was fading and she knew what was going to happen. Giles picked out Catherine's Grimoire from where Amy had put her mother's things

"How is she?" Amy asked Giles in a low voice hoping to not distract him; she hoped Buffy wouldn't die because of what her mother had done.

Giles looked up to where the sisters were and saw how pale Buffy looked compared to her sister, "We only have a few minutes left" he said grimly, "we need a frog eye...if you could" Giles asked Amy without looking up from where he had turned his vision to the Grimoire. Amy knew she had to do this even if she didn't want to; she quickly set everything up the cut the eye out and looked awfully squeamish doing it. Giles received the eye from Amy and puts it in the potion "Right! Here we go!"

Caitlin put her hand on the side of her sister neck and rubbed her thumb on her sister jaw, "it's almost done Buffy, you'll be back to normal and ready to kick ass," she had tears in her eyes as she saw her sisters unfocused eyes slipping shut.

Giles started to recite the spell as he continued to mix the potion, "The center is dark. Centrum est obscurus. The darkness breathes. Tenebrae respiratis. The listener hears. Hear me!"

Amy gasped "Oh, it's... it's working!" she said out loud but no one responded to her, too busy with what they were doing. Amy was thrilled it was starting to work she would have her body back soon.

Giles took the Grimoire up from the table, "Unlock the gate. Let the darkness shine. Cover us with holy fear." Catherine staggered back and covered her face, she was seeing with her eyes from her own body which probably meant that her mother could see what she was seeing. "Show me..." The lights go out in the classroom because of the spells energy.

"She's coming!" Amy knew that she needed to say it so they could get this over quicker.

Giles looked worried but continued to chant, he raised his arms, "Corsheth and Gilail! The gate is closed! Receive the dark! Release the unworthy! Take of mine energy and be sated!" He lunged his hands into the potion he's concocted. "Be sated! Release the unworthy!" he continued to chant loudly.

Buffy finally couldn't keep her eyes open and her head rolled her head slowly, Caitlin's eyes widened in horror as her other hand came up to straighten up her head, "Buffy!" she called loudly trying to rouse Buffy.

"Release!" he looked over to Buffy, Catherin began to chop at the door knowing they were reversing the spell "Release!" Catherine made a hole in the door and reached in to open the door; she marched through and raised her axe straight over Buffy. "RELEEEEASE!" Giles finished and watched as colour started to gain colour. Caitlin looked up and saw the axe so she rolled her and her sister off of the table; they landed with Caitlin on the bottom who groaned. Buffy had her strength back and got to her feet pulling Caitlin up with her

"Buffy?" Amy asked standing in front of them with the axe looking perplexed.

"Amy?" Buffy responded hoping it really was the teenager and not her mother. Catherine lunged at Buffy from the side and tackled her to the floor, knocking her out.

Giles advanced towards Catherine whilst pointing at the witch "You... you..." Giles never got to finish before Catherine growled and looked at him, she used her powers to force him back and push a table against him, Caitlin watched as he was knocked him down and out. Amy just stood there watching, still holding the axe in both hands.

Catherine got up and confronted her "You! You little brat!" she screeched, how dare she get these people to undo the spell she had cast and one of them knew the arts very well. Caitlin was checking on Buffy but she looked up as Catherine spoke.

"Mom! Please!" Amy begged trying to be threatening with the axe she held.

Catherine held out her hand, but before she could do anything Caitlin lunged at her and they both fell to the floor, Caitlin drew her fist back and hit the witch in the face but before she could do anything she was flung back onto the table Buffy had previously landed on and the momentum caused her roll off and hit her head. Catherine got up and magically got the axe from Amy then spoke to her, "How dare you raise your hand to your mother! I gave you birth. I gave up my life so you could drag that worthless carcass around and call it living?" instead of using the axe on her daughter she swung it into a table, she decided to use her magic to get rid of the annoyance. "You've never been anything but trouble. I'm going to put you where you can't make trouble again!"

Buffy jumped up behind Catherine, "Guess what?" she asked the witch who was about to attack Amy, part of her wondered where Giles and Caitlin where. Caitlin groaned as she got to her knees, she hadn't been knocked out but she had been winded. Catherine turned to face Buffy, quite happy to get rid of her as well, "I feel better!" Buffy informed her before punching Catherine much like Caitlin had only this time Catherine flew through the air, landed on a lab table and rolled off much like Caitlin had, hitting a shelf.

Catherine got up from where she had landed, "That body was mine! Mine!" she shouted at Buffy whilst referring to the cowering Amy who hadn't really moved from her spot, too afraid that her mother would punish her if she did.

Buffy couldn't believe it the older women was nearly pouting "Oh, grow up!" Catherine growled, she held her arm out toward Buffy and used her powers to send her flying against the wall. Caitlin got up as Buffy hit the wall and fell to the floor. Buffy got up, craning her neck.

Catherine began to cast a spell "I shall look upon my enemy!" She looked up at Buffy, and her eyes were become pitch black.

Caitlin noticed this and rushed over to Buffy, "Buffy she's using dark magic," she whispered in her sisters ear, Buffy turned her head slightly in acknowledgement but didn't take her eyes off of Catherine.

"I shall look upon her and the dark place will have her soul!" Catherin paid no attention to Caitlin and was glad she only had to do this spell once. The sisters looked around for a way to stop her, Buffy saw the pole holding up the mirror above her and signalled to Caitlin who nodded. "Corsheth, take her!" Catherine finished and the spell fired towards the sisters, Caitlin did a standing hook kick that knocked the pole out from under the mirror and let it flop down. Catherine's spell reflected from the mirror back at her, the power of the spell enveloped her and she screamed knowing what it meant for her. The energy twisted around her and disappeared with a roar, taking her with it.

Buffy finally looked around for Giles, who was still unconscious on the floor. Buffy and Caitlin approached him and he started to wake up "Well, that was, um, interesting." Buffy gave him her hand and help him up.

"You guys okay?" Buffy asked as she turned to face Amy and Caitlin.

Amy immediately spoke up in a mix of bewilderment and relief, "I'm fine!" she was so glad that she had her own body back and now how her mother wasn't threatening her she was relishing in it. Buffy looked to Caitlin who just nodded jerkily not really knowing how she felt.

"I assume the, uh, all the spells are reversed. It was my first casting, so..." Giles took a breath still not feeling a hundred per cent from being knocked out before he continued "I may have got it wrong."

Buffy was quick to reassure her watcher that he had done fine, "You saved my life! You were a god!" Giles nodded at Buffy's words and saw Caitlin doing the same from behind the blonde.

"Well, I didn't think you'd pull it off," Amy admitted rather apologetic, who could blame her seeing as she had been stuck in her mother's body for a while and when her and Caitlin went into the attic her fear of her mother had been firmly cemented in place.

Suddenly Xander came rushing into the room and grabbed Amy tightly, startling the poor girl whose nerves were already frayed "I got her! I got her! Cut her head off!" he declared loudly as he looked at Buffy not noticing that she was fine and standing on her own.

"Xander, what are you doing?" Caitlin asked seemingly confused as to why Xander was restraining the teen, didn't occur to them that last time he saw her she was all witchy.

"Saving you two?" Xander answered back with a question not sounding so sure of himself anymore. She had rushed off and when he caught up they were having a friendly chat, she brain washed them he decided.

"Get your hands off of her" Buffy said as she gave Xander a look that could be described as annoyed, he shouldn't tell her to hack some humans head off she wasn't a murderer.

"But she's evil," Xander defended himself, she was a witch and she had tried to kill her therefore she was pure evil and needed to be stopped.

Giles stepped up to explain it seeing the look of annoyance and both of the sister's faces, getting those two annoyed wasn't exactly smart considering one was a slayer and the other had over 8 years of martial art experience, "It wasn't exactly her."

Amy saw the slightly befuddled look that Xander sent Giles and dumbed it down even more "I was my mom."

Xander released her with an Oh, just in time for Willow to rush into the room wielding a baseball bat looking around the room wildly, Caitlin immediately approached her before she swung at Amy. Willow noticed Caitlin first and spoke to her "Where is she?"

Caitlin grabbed the bat just in case the redhead did swing "Uh, hey Willow! It's cool!" she was stunned at Willow's aggressive attitude but was glad she was ready to defend herself and her friends.

"It is?" she allowed Caitlin to grab the bat and she sounded as confused as Xander had when he came into the room.

Xander spoke up "Yeah, I took care of it," he decided to take the credit, she wasn't in the room but he needed to impress the ladies even if it was only Willow. They all just looked at each other, not knowing whether to correct him.

"Actually Giles saved the day," Buffy said as she pointed with her thumb to the watcher, Willow shot Xander a look before turning to Giles who was blushing slightly. The Englishmen took off his glasses and started to clean them, a nervous habit of his he couldn't get rid of.

The youngest person in the room went up to their sister and tugged on her hand; Buffy looked at her but didn't say anything, "Can we go home now?" Caitlin asked and Buffy nodded wrapping her arms around her sister to comfort her.

~GU:CM~

Buffy scooped her smashed alarm clock into a wastebasket; she hadn't done it when she woke up that morning, bearing in mind she wasn't even in her right mind thanks to the spell. Her mother came in smiling at Buffy, who smiled back, before glancing back at Dawn and Caitlin asleep on her bed. Her younger sisters had played around in the garden as soon as they had gotten home and even climbed the tree in the front garden and played on the roof, before she ordered them down so it wasn't surprising that they had crashed about an hour ago.

Joyce liked that Buffy was alright with her baby sisters in her room, she had come up for a reason she needed to talk to Buffy about what had been happening lately "I don't get it," she admitted as she came closer to Buffy

"What?" Buffy asked not knowing what her mother was talking about, it could be any number of things and she found it strange how people would open conversations like that.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking about... where you're coming from, how to relate to you... and I've come to a very simple conclusion: I don't get it," she had been thinking about it since Buffy firth brought it up in the kitchen a few days ago, her children just made no sense to her and she wondered if her mother felt like this when she raised her and her sister or raising her nieces.

"I'm inscrutable, huh?" strangely she felt rather proud about that, it also meant that she could keep her slayer secret without her mother figuring it out and that was a weight off of her shoulders.

"You're sixteen. I think there's a, a biological imperative whereby I can't understand you because I'm not sixteen," the mother of three reasoned, she hadn't been 16 for over 20 years so it was no wonder she didn't understand her sixteen year old daughter. Joyce was busy raising her nieces with her sister at that age; she had to be mature around them.

Curiosity peaked Buffy asked a question that had been playing on her mind since she found out Catherine body switched with her daughter, "Do you ever wish you could be sixteen again?"

"Oh, that's a frightful notion," Joyce exhaled as she sat next to her two youngest children who were snuggled together "Go through all that again? Not even if it helped me understand you," She smiled at her daughter, and Buffy smiled back. Joyce wouldn't dare go back to that age seeing as she would just have to do everything over again, she would have to lose her sister all over again and she wouldn't be able to go through that

Buffy was pleased with that, "I love you, mom." She jumped up from beside her sisters and mother kissing her mom on the cheek as she went, then ran from the room to take a shower before her and Caitlin went out patrolling then to the bronze to meet Willow and Xander.

Joyce stared in bewilderment as Buffy ran from the room "I don't get it!" she stated as she absently played with Dawn's hair.

"Don't think you were meant to," Caitlin said as she turned her head slightly, Dawn was practically stuck to her so moving wasn't exactly easy.

The mother nodded and dropped a kiss to her daughter's head, "you're probably right. Now I know how my mother felt when I was 16." Shaking her head she left the room in order to do some dreaded paperwork.

The middle child led there for a while before sliding out of her baby sisters arms and headed to her room so she could get changed to go out, not long after she finished Buffy came into the room all ready and dressed, "C'mon sleepy head it's time we went out." Caitlin smiled and nodded, the two blondes said their goodbyes and headed for a bit of relaxing.

~GU:CM~

Willow sat with Xander and Buffy in a booth looking out onto the dance floor where Caitlin was dancing, "how does she do that?" Xander asked in awe as he watched the males flocking around Caitlin and tried to dance with her.

Buffy was watching with a small smile at her sister enjoying herself, "she's always liked to let go and just dance, when she was younger it was our older cousin Prue that would hold her up and Caitlin would just smile and wave her arms around whilst bouncing up and down." She liked those memories even though Dawn wasn't in them, it reminded her of simpler times when they all lived at the manor, she was happy then, even if her dad lived in a rented apartment across town.

Willow tried to imagine that imagery but found it difficult to do so, she hadn't really seen Caitlin let go until now, "when did she first get into dancing?" she didn't really know much about either sister yet but they had only been around for over a week and she wanted to know more.

"About 8 months old I think...we have this video of Caitlin in Prue's arms and I'm over with Piper, Phoebe and Paige are dancing to some song and we all joined in. The camera focuses on Prue and Caitlin, Prue is swaying and holding Caitlin up and Caitlin starts to copy Paige and it's just really funny." Buffy chuckled at that remembering watching the video with her cousins a few weeks ago.

"You're family has an awful lot of P's in it," Xander piped up after digesting what Buffy had told them, this was the first time she had mentioned family excluding the obvious members.

Buffy looked up in contemplation, how many generations of P's had there been before her mother broke the tradition with the three of them "Yeah it started a few generations ago," Buffy wasn't sure how many generations that was Caitlin's sort of thing.

"Wow so it's like tradition but why is your mother, you and your sisters not P's?" Willow was interested in this she had read a lot on family interaction due to her parent's jobs as Psychologists, she was always reading up on new things it would keep her parents off of her back and also allow her to interact with them as they always spoke with psychological terms. The knowledge was also helping her understand Caitlin not that she even knew what the teen had.

Buffy knew the answer to that because she had heard her Grandmother and mother arguing over it a few years ago, "My mom is a P, she's Pandora but she changed her name after high school so her middle name became her first name. My dad didn't want mom to carry on with the tradition but my cousin has she had a little girl called Perri, cutest kid I've ever seen," Buffy boasted proudly about her cousin Perri the child was just endearing in so many ways that she had to be the sweetest kid Buffy had ever known as well.

Caitlin was unaware of what was happening around her, her eyes were closed and she could feel the beat flow through her body and decided to go along with it to see where it took her. It was the easiest thing for her to do when she was feeling the need to relax and after the last few days she really needed to relax, a large smile took over her face as she danced she had no clue she had attracted a lot of male and female attention nor did she realise that her sister was sharing the same smile she was just from observing her.

Buffy turned to Caitlin before looking back at her friends, "I'm going to join her for a bit" she got nods from both Xander and Willow but neither got up to join they felt as if it was a family moment. Buffy quickly made her way through the crowd and stood in front of her sister, grabbing one of her sisters hands she quickly slipped into the dance mind set granted she could never get there as quickly or as easily as Caitlin could nor could she be as good as Caitlin but she still found it relaxing just to be with her sister and dancing away in their own little world.

Xander watched the scene with a small smile on his face, now that he was alone with Willow he wanted to ask her a question, "Hey Will do you know what's up with Caitlin?" Willow knew what he was asking but she wanted him to tell her what he had noticed, "I mean sometimes it seems like she's not all there." The younger of the two nodded having observed the same thing but she figured that something terrible must have happened to Caitlin because of the state of her back, she had some deep scarring and it was still slightly red so they weren't exactly old.

"I don't know what's wrong with her Xander but I know it's a sore subject so for now I think it's best that we don't ask," Willow wanted to know but she wasn't going to risk Buffy or Caitlin's friendship over it. Curiosity killed the cat as they say.

Xander thought over what Willow said and nodded in consent, Buffy was protective of Caitlin so asking why she seemed crazy probably wasn't the best way to stay friends, "Yeah guess you're right."The two long time friends just sat in silence and watched as the two siblings laughed and danced around on the dance floor, acting like typical teenaged girls with no problems or responsibilities.

**\Silver-Eternal-Dragon/**


	4. Chapter 4

Teacher's Pet

Buffy was sat beside in class and Willow, Caitlin and Xander were sat on the table next to hers, Caitlin was doodling on her work whilst Willow was writing down everything the teacher, Dr. Gregory said, Buffy was taking some notes but not to the extent that Willow was and Xander day dreaming. The class was dark because Dr. Gregory was giving a slideshow on bugs. Buffy turned her head and noticed Xander, "Xander you're drooling" she whispered but she didn't get a response "Xander!" she said a little louder. Xander shook his head and looked at Buffy to see what she wanted and Buffy indicated the corner of her mouth "You've got a little..." she trailed off and he understood what she meant so he wiped the drool from his face.

"Their ancestors were here long before we were, their progeny will be here long after we are gone, the simple and ubiquitous ant," Dr. Gregory finished speaking and shut of the projector so he would have the attention of the students and no the projection, he turned the lights on and walked up the aisle between the tables to pick on one of the students. "Now, If you read the homework you should know the two ways that ants communicate," he looked around and stopped by Xander who thought the teacher was going to ask him but he spun and leant on it to face Buffy,

"Miss Summers."

Caitlin looked up thinking he was speaking to her but saw his back to her and smirked over at her sister. Buffy hadn't done the homework so she was put on the spot and noticed everyone was looking at her "Ways that ants communicate," she made it sound like she was trying to remember. The teacher nodded his head and made a sound of agreement, "With other ants" she clarified trying to stall for time to think.

Dr. Gregory prompted her "From the homework," he could see she was struggling to come up with something, "Ants are communicating..." he started her off almost feeling sorry for her.

Buffy saw Caitlin indicating for her attention, "Um, uh, uh..." she was still stalling until Caitlin showed her what she needed to know, Caitlin stroked Willow's back and the redhead tensed slightly, Caitlin was indicating 'touch' and Buffy said what it showed "Touch..." Dr. Gregory nodded. Buffy looked at Caitlin again, "And, um..." Caitlin was sniffing Willow trying to indicate 'smell' but she got confused "B.O.?" Willow looked offended when Buffy said that but the blonde was confused.

Most of the students laughed at what she had said but Caitlin looked frustrated with Buffy, one of the students spoke up and made more students laugh, "That would be 'touch' and 'smell'. Miss Summers, Is there anything else Miss Summers would like to tell you?"

"No sir I'm good," Caitlin responded easily not in the slightest bit embarrassed she was caught helping her sister out, some of the class chuckled slightly at the interaction but then bell rang and the students started to pack up their stuff.

"Alright, chapters six through eight by tomorrow, people," he stood himself up but kept his focus on Buffy, "Can I see you for a moment?" Buffy nodded silently hoping she wasn't in any trouble.

Caitlin, Xander and Willow walked out of class, "see you two ladies at lunch" Xander said as he walked off to his next class. Willow and Caitlin had theirs together, English literature so they made their way over to the class.

"Think she'll be in trouble?" Willow asked as she took her seat at the front of the class and Caitlin sat next to her. They pretty much sat next to each other in all of their classes because the teachers wanted them to be at the front away from distracting teenagers who would rather waste their lesson time messing around.

The young teenager stopped for a second to think, "I doubt it, he seems like a pretty cool teacher." Which was true because he seemed like the only teacher to give Buffy a chance because of her record and she wasn't stupid she knew the teachers blamed Buffy for her being expelled from Hemery as well.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin was holding Willow's hand as her, Willow and Buffy entered Bronze. Xander was quick to descend on them, "Babes!" they all turned around to see Xander coming at them with his arms wide open and grabbed all three of them in a hug.

"Why are you hugging us like this?" Caitlin questioned as she wiggled trying to break out of his arms feeling slightly uncomfortable.

Buffy backed up her sister's question with one of her own, "What are you doing?" she wasn't entirely comfortable in that position either but wasn't trying to break out as she didn't want to hurt him.

"Work with me here. Blayne had the nerve to question my manliness, I'm just gonna give him a visual," Xander explained to the two blondes hoping to score masculinity points as well as popularity points for getting them to think he was seeing the two new girls.

"Ugh fine," Caitlin said as she grabbed the back of Xander's neck and brought him down for a big showing off passionate kiss hoping it would indeed score him some big points. Buffy and Willow looked on with wide eyes and dropped jaws at Caitlin's behaviour, eventually the 14 year old pulled back and looked up at the 16 year old male, "don't expect me to do that again" Xander could only nod. After his brain started again he looked back at Blayne, gave him a 'thumbs up' and put his arm back around Willow and Caitlin. The two boys seemed really impressed that Xander had pulled the two new girls.

"I don't believe it," Buffy said in a distracted voice and she started to head over to a corner of the bronze, Caitlin noticed who she had spotted and started to frown.

Xander thought she was referring to the guts questioning his manliness, "I know, and after all my conquests" He turned back and saw Buffy heading off and saw who she was walking towards, "Who's that?" he asked no one in particular.

Seeing Caitlin wasn't going to answer Willow spoke up, "That must be Angel! I think?" and from them look on Caitlin's face she would say her guess would be right; the young teenager didn't seem to like Angel all that much.

"That weird guy that warned her about all the vampires?" Xander asked just to clarify; Caitlin tilted her head to look at him and could practically see jealousy in his eyes.

"That's him, I'll bet you" Willow was confident in her assessment from the description Buffy had given them and to the annoyed look on Caitlin's face.

"Yeah that's him," Caitlin sighed as she walked off to the bar to get some drinks in because honestly she didn't want to see Angel something about him sent chills down her back so she didn't really trust him.

Xander didn't pay too much attention to Caitlin going off because he was still eyeing Angel up "Well, he's buff! She never said anything about him being buff!" Angel was quiet muscular and his outfit showed it off rather well.

"You think he's buff?" Willow asked as she looked Angel over and could see where Xander was coming from, she saw Caitlin handing some money over to the bar keeper and wanted to go help bring the drinks to a table.

Xander nodded, "He's a very attractive man! How come *that* never came up?" he asked as he looked at Willow who just shrugged maybe Buffy didn't want them to know she had a little crush on the mysterious male. He looked back just in time to see Angel draping his jacket over Buffy, "Oh, right! Give her your jacket. It's a balmy night, no one needs to be trading clothing out there!" the jealousy was really showing through and he didn't even notice when Willow disappeared from his side.

Willow stood beside Caitlin to wait for the drinks "Xander's freaking out," she felt sorry for her friend but she couldn't help him with his crush with Buffy especially if Caitlin had kissed him that way and he was still following Buffy. Willow felt a spike of jealousy go through her at remembering the kiss but shock it off as she grabbed two of the four drinks whilst Caitlin got the other two.

Caitlin headed for a table leaving Xander to fume over Angel in the middle of the room "Well he does have a major crush on Buff but it won't go anywhere so he'll have to get used to it Wills," she shrugged not really knowing what to say it wasn't exactly the first time it had happened and probably wouldn't be the last because all Halliwell's were extremely attractive and well built. Caitlin looked out onto the dance floor, "You wanna dance?" she asked Willow.

Chewing on her nails Willow watched Xander stomp over to their table and moodily start on his drink "Okay," she squeaked out to the question and placed her hand in Caitlin's.

Arriving on the dance floor Caitlin placed Willow in front of her and placed one hand on Willows hips and kept the her hand in Willows and started to get her into a rhythm as she had noticed that Willow seemed to struggle finding a rhythm but once she got going she was pretty good at it.

Angel had gone so Buffy went over to where she had seen Willow and Caitlin sit earlier and joined Xander in watching Caitlin laugh with Willow on the dance floor, it was their second song and they seemed to be in sync with each other but then Caitlin was a professional dancer so going along with the slightly older girl wasn't too difficult. "What did Angel want?" the brown haired male asked without taking his eyes from the other two girls.

"Warning me about a Fork guy or some kind of demon anyways," she replied as she put her drink down but continued to watch her sister smiling and her face slipped into a sad smile missing her sister's carefree attitude.

"What's dangerous about a guy with a fork?" Xander looked at Buffy with a confusion showing, didn't sound too dangerous to him unless the fork was to eat brains or eyes then that was on the scale of gross and wrong.

Buffy looked at Xander like he had lost his mind "Not a guy with a fork, a Fork Guy, Claw that looks like a fork or something," Xander made an 'ah' sound to show he got it and as Buffy turned to look back at Willow and Caitlin messing around on the dance floor, Xander slipped into a daydream involving him and Buffy making out in the library. It was good to be a male with two hot blonde friends, suddenly his fantasy changed to Caitlin pinning Willow to the wall and... "Xander!" Xander shook his head and saw Willow and Caitlin in front of him smirking, "having fun?" Buffy asked sounding amused; he shot her a confused look as if to say 'what are you talking about?' "You've been drooling for the past hour" Buffy explained and Xander blushed causing all three girls to laugh at him, maybe it wasn't so good to have all female friends after all a male would of asked what he was daydreaming about.

~GU:CM~

Buffy and Giles walk towards the school discussing what Angel had told her the night before at the Bronze, "That's all he said? Fork Guy?" Giles turned the apple slightly in his hand in through, the information wasn't very useful but a warning was warning and so they could now be on the lookout for a demon with a fork like hand or claw.

Buffy nodded "That's all Cryptic Guy said: Fork Guy," she had to say it wasn't much and Mr cryptic wasn't willing to make this easy for her or he could not have known what it was that attacked him, that was more likely.

"I think there are too many 'guys' in your life," Giles laughed at his little joke but Buffy didn't look the slightest bit amused, They eventually met Willow who was sat on a bench reading a book before Giles continued, "I'll see what I can find out" he couldn't send the Slayer out to fight a demon without knowing what they were "...God, every day here is the same," Giles complained as he looked up at the sky.

"Bright, sunny, beautiful; however can we escape this torment?" A voice from behind them joked and they saw Caitlin walk up to them and smiled at Giles, who shot her a look for her sarcasm, Willow smiled at her and Caitlin smiled back. Buffy sat down and pulled Caitlin down to fit next to her, she hadn't seen her sister before then as Caitlin had to go off early to get in some swimming before school as she had dance after.

"Really," Giles commented on Caitlin's supposed joke and turned to leave just in time to spot Xander "Good morning," he carried on walking away from the young teenagers who he swore were going to be the death of him

The teenaged male responded to the morning before turning to the girls still sat on the bench, "Guess what I just heard in the office? No Dr. Gregory today. Ergo, those of us who blew off our science homework aren't as dumb as we look," He reached down and flipped Willow's book closed and she had to stop it from sliding off of her lap then shot Xander a dirty look

"What happened, is he sick?" concern for her favourite teacher showing through as Buffy asked.

Xander shook his head "They didn't say anything about sick, something about missing," Xander didn't seem too bothered by the news it was almost common to happen in their town.

"He's missing?" Caitlin asked sounding worried; she guessed that something had happened to Dr. Gregory because he didn't seem like the type to slack off or run away.

"Well, let me think. Um, the cheerleaders were modelling their new short skirts, that kinda got... Yeah! Yeah, they said missing" he said suddenly straightening up trying not to seem like a pervert even though he completely was, he caught the girls exchanging looks "Which is bad?" he didn't seem to be following their chain of thought

"If something's wrong, yeah!" Buffy spoke up again, he was the only teacher that actually liked her and if he was missing then something must have happened to him.

Willow decided to finally add something "He's one of the only teachers that doesn't think Buffy's a felon."

"I'm really sorry, I'm sure he'll..." Xander started but something caught his eye and as he looked up he saw a new teacher walking towards them "I, uh, huh...Uh, huh... huh..." all three girls look to see what's got his brain short circuit.

"Eww," Caitlin said as she caught sight of the teacher, now Caitlin liked women but not the kind that applied too much make up to have themselves noticed and she was completely fake.

"Eww?" Buffy asked well aware that her sister preferred the same sex, she didn't really know what her sister's type was because she was too busy trying not to let her old friends find out so they wouldn't terrorise her sister but they had anyways and it led to...

Caitlin interrupted Buffy's thoughts as she responded to Buffy's question, "Yeah eww she is just so not my type and that make up is caked on, only hormonal idiots like that one there," she pointed to Xander "Would think she is a sex bomb."

Willow focused on Caitlin, "you like girls?" she didn't sound disgusted just curios so Caitlin gave her a nod "Cool," Willow responded before focusing back on Miss fake as Caitlin had mentally dubbed her.

Xander saw the new teacher walking towards him in slow motion and he took in all of her features, she came right up to Xander, who just stared at her "Could you help me?" Caitlin coughed when the perfume hit her nose and turned her head towards Buffy and saw Buffy scrunching her nose up as well as her senses were far better than Caitlin's own.

"Uuuuuuhhhhhh... Yes!" Xander answered finally and seemed not to realise he was making an ass of himself.

Willow and Buffy gave each other an amused look, Caitlin put her head on her sisters shoulder trying to get away from the smell and Buffy put her head on her sisters inhaling her mint scent instead of the over powerful perfume of the teacher.

"I'm looking for Science... 109," she looked up the class and room so the young male would be able to help her find it.

"Oh! It's, um..." Xander started to look around showing the girls that his brain was still short circuiting and he had forgotten the way to the class, "I go there every day!" Xander smiled at her to try and buy time for him to remember, the teacher laughed finding what he had said funny. Finally giving up trying to remember on his own Xander turned to the girls pleadingly "Oh, God, where is it?" but they decided to play with him and shrug showing that they didn't know.

A dark haired teenager came up to introduce himself to the teacher "Hi! Blayne Mall. I'm going there right now. It's not far from the varsity field where I took All-City last year," all girls dug Varsity players so he smiled smugly knowing she was going to go with him.

"Oh! Thank you, Blayne!" the teacher replied so her and Blayne left for the class leaving Xander following them with his eyes looking longingly at the teacher.

The now despondent male turned to face his friends "It's funny how the Earth never opens up and swallows you when you want it to," The girls nodded their heads and gave each other a smile.

Caitlin finally removed her head from Buffy's shoulder and stood up taking a large breath "Fresh air, precious fresh air how I've missed thee," she said and she got a confused look from Willow and Xander but a chuckle from Buffy, "God how can one woman wear so much perfume I was choking on fumes!" she exclaimed. Buffy and Willow got up and started walking towards lesson, Buffy could understand what Caitlin was talking about but Willow had luckily been too far away to get too much of the perfume mix with her air supply. Xander gave Caitlin a curious look before following the other two with Caitlin right behind him.

The foursome walked into class with Xander and Caitlin arguing over how lots of makeup was pretty, Willow was next to Buffy just listening to Xander's very lame arguments. Willow saw Buffy lean down and pick something up "What's wrong?" she asked seeing Buffy's frown as she stood back up.

"Dr. Gregory dropped his glasses... Why wouldn't he pick them up?" she asked as she set the glasses on the lab table and gave the teacher a strange glance as she walked to her stool, something about the new teacher gave her the wiggins and that was never a good thing.

The teacher turned to face the class and got a good look at everyone, her attention mostly focused on the boys so Caitlin rolled her eyes and got some plain paper out of her bag so she could sketch throughout the lesson. Willow leant over to Caitlin slightly to see what she was doing; Xander had her attention solely on the new teacher. "My name is Natalie French, and I will be substituting for Dr. Gregory,"

"Do you know when he's coming back?" Buffy asked wanting her favourite teacher to be back soon but something deep inside of her was telling her that he wasn't coming back ever.

"No, I don't, um," Miss French looked down at the rooster for the class "Buffy, they just call and tell me where they want me," she explained with a bright smile like it didn't matter. Caitlin looked over at her sister and noticed the sad frown on her face, Buffy felt eyes on her so she looked over and met Caitlin's gaze and gave her a small smile trying to show she was alright.

"I'll tell you where I want you," Blayne whispers in a low voice but not low enough and most of the class hear. Caitlin made a face of disgust at the thought of having Miss French anywhere near her.

"You really don't like women like that do you?" Willow was genuinely curious at Caitlin's sexuality, she could admit that Caitlin was very attractive and she assumed that males fell at her feet.

Caitlin smirked at the question and shook her head "No I don't," she didn't elaborate because where she wasn't ashamed of her sexuality she didn't go around advertising it either. She didn't want everyone to know because of what happened last time a bunch of narrow minded teenagers found out.

Miss French smiled at Blain "Yes, His notes tell me you were right in the middle of insect life." She picked up a mantis mounted in a clear plastic box, "The praying mantis is a fascinating creature forced to live alone, who can tell me why? Buffy?" Miss French put the mantis back down onto the table.

Buffy looked at the bug before turning her attention to the teacher "Well, the words 'bug-ugly' kinda spring to mind," Caitlin grinned at her sisters remark and most of the class had to muffle their laughter.

Miss French looked annoyed with Buffy's response "There is nothing ugly about these unique creatures, the reason they live alone is because they're cannibals!"

"Eww!" Buffy remarked full of disgust at the thought of being a cannibal. She wasn't the only one who looked disgusted because everyone in class looked disgusted as well.

"Oh, well, it's hardly their fault! It's the way nature designed them: noble, solitary and prolific. Over 1800 species worldwide, and in nearly all of them the female is larger *and* more aggressive than the male," her smile was quiet scary as she seemed pleased with the topic they were on. "The California Mantis lays her eggs, and then finds a mate..." She looked at Xander who stared right back at her "...to fertilize them. Once he's played his part, she covers the eggs in a protective sack and attaches it to a leaf or twig out of danger. Now, if she's done her job correctly, in a few months she'll have several hundred offspring," She made her way back to the front of the class and put down her notebook, "You know, we should make some model egg sacks for the science fair, who would like to help me do that after school?" All the boys raised their hands, desperate to help the new hot teacher "Good!" she seemed pleased with so many willing volunteers.

"Is it me or does she seem way too interested in this bug?" Caitlin whispered to Willow as Miss French picked out Blayne to help her. Willow nodded having come to the same conclusion but then she was a science teacher it was her job to be interested in the subject.

~GU:CM~

"Hot dog surprise, be still my heart," Buffy said as all four of them were lining up for the cafeteria food. Caitlin was pulling various faces, she was more expressive with her face than her words so Willow was usually always looking at her face or that was what she was going to tell people if they asked.

"Call me old-fashioned, I don't want any more surprises in my hot dogs" Willow commented from her place behind Buffy in the queue

Caitlin had brought her own lunch because she knew that high school food was mysterious and disgusting, "I think I'll eat the lunch I made at home." Buffy pouted because Caitlin had offered to make her lunch the night before but she had declined saying she would get something at school.

Xander hadn't being paying attention to what the girls had been discussing "I wonder what she sees in me? It's probably the quiet good looks coupled with a certain smoky magnetism." Willow raised her eyebrows at him and Caitlin was wondering why he was so delusional. Willow turned to Buffy and they smiled at how love struck teenager seemed. "Miss French," Xander said her name dreamily and his eyes glazed over even more. "You three are probably a little young to understand what an older woman would see in a younger man."

"Oh, I understand," Buffy said as if she was going to be nice to him and actually agree with him but Caitlin could see a gleam in her eye and knew what was coming and she smiled.

Xander nodded believing she truly did understand "Good!"

Buffy smirked as the male walked straight into her trap "The younger man is too dumb to wonder why an older woman can't find someone her own age, and too desperate to care about the surgical improvements!" the older girl sounded very serious and was good enough to pull Xander from his x-rated day dreams to look at her

Xander seemed taken aback by Buffy's obvious knowledge of older women "What surgical improvements?" he asked as her surveyed the three females in front of him, Caitlin gives him a sympathetic look and slyly points upwards signalling towards her face trying to say she had her face worked on.

Willow turned to face Buffy giving her an understanding look; she looked to be able to tease Xander with the two sisters "Well, he is young."

Buffy shook her head feinting disappointment "And so terribly innocent!"

"Hey, those that can, do. Those that can't *laugh* at those who... can do" Xander finished lamely whilst now thinking of what Miss French could really look like, for all he really knew she was in her 50's or 60's.

Blayne came up next to Xander, getting lots of food obviously stocking up for something he was going to be doing later "Gotta carb up for my one-on-one with Miss French today. When's yours? Oh, right, tomorrow. You came in second, I came in first. Guess that's what they call natural selection." Blayne left but not before Caitlin grunted in disgust and looked away, Buffy let out a breathless chuckle at how typical males were.

"Guess it's what they call a rehearsal!" Xander said to the girls about Blayne spending time with Miss French, "Rehearsal..." laughed lamely at his own joke and the girls smiled because Xander was so far into Miss French that he couldn't see clearly.

Buffy went over to get some utensils and as she walked back Cordelia came in through the exit and bumped into her, "Excuse you!" she said snobbishly and caught Caitlin's attention. Caitlin started to go over to Cordelia to give her a piece of her mind but Willow caught her wrist and noticed the tense muscles but never let her go. Cordelia went behind the counter, showing a piece of paper to the cafeteria workers "Medically prescribed lunch, my doctor ships it daily... I'll only be here as long as I can hold my breath," she walked over to the refrigerator and screamed as she saw what was inside. Buffy, Caitlin and Willow ran to see what was wrong, Cordelia backed away from the fridge talking hysterically to anyone who could hear her "His head! His head! Oh, my God, where's his head?"

The girls arrived to see what was inside, Buffy stared in disbelief at the headless body stuffed into the fridge, and Xander was close behind and had to look away when he saw the contents. Willow looked squeamish and she started to pale so Caitlin turned her into her shoulder so she could look away from the body. Caitlin leant closer to look at the name on the body, the name on the lab coat read "Dr. Gregory" she whispered and looked to her sister.

Buffy turned from the body towards the others, "we should go now" she said tearfully as she started to head away from the fridge. Xander looked at Caitlin and she nodded her head in Buffy's direction trying to get him to follow Buffy, Xander nodded and started after the older blonde and Caitlin was quick to follow as she turned Willow again and led her from the cafeteria.

~GU:CM~

The foursome arrived in the library and Giles came out of his office to see Buffy crying and the others very sad faces, "God lord what's happened?" he asked sounding concerned.

Buffy and Willow walked over and sat on the steps whilst Xander stood by the table and Caitlin sat on the counter, "we found out why Dr Gregory isn't here" Caitlin said to his question but couldn't find it in her to elaborate she really liked his as well because he never bored her.

"Oh and why is he not here?" Giles had noticed his absence in the teacher lounge and had found out he hadn't turned up but he didn't know him well enough to make assumptions.

"He lost his head" Willow murmured and to Giles it seemed as if she was trying to make a joke, the adult took his glasses off and cleaned them.

"Literally," Xander made a slice motion across his neck showing Giles that they weren't trying to make a joke and that their teacher had been beheaded.

Giles walked over to the counter and poured a glass of water, he brought it over to Buffy who had stopped crying. "Here, drink this" Giles said as he handed the glass of water over to Buffy who wasn't really paying attention

Buffy idly took the glass from Giles and took a sip "No, thank you," her words contradicted her actions but it was understandable

Xander walked up behind Giles "I've never seen..." Giles looked back at Xander knowing what the younger male was going to say but let. "I mean, I've never seen anything like... That was new," Xander continued sounding and looking shaken up by the events that had transpired

"Who would wanna hurt Dr. Gregory?" Willow asked sounding very upset, sure she knew about death but she'd never expected to witness like that.

"Uh, he didn't have any enemies on the staff that I'm aware of, he was a civilized man. I liked him," Giles stated as he looked over the three teenagers in front of him. He glanced and looked over to Caitlin who was led on the counter with one leg bent at the knee, she didn't seem to be faring so well because her body was tense, he would speak to her soon if she didn't speak up.

"So did I," Buffy had truly liked him because he hadn't treated her and her sister any differently because of their records, unlike her sister she wasn't a genius so the teacher didn't forget her record like they did Caitlin.

Willow looked up at Giles eyes filled with sadness and determination "Well, we're gonna find out who did this. We'll find them and we'll stop them," she sounded so confident of her abilities and it was a nice improvement for Giles as Willow was usually so shy.

"Count on it," Buffy matched her determination and sadness with a little anger as well.

"What do we know?" Giles asked not wanting them to get a head of themselves and get the wrong person or expose themselves, well expose himself and Buffy

"Oh, not a lot, um..." Buffy tried to compose herself so she sniffed and wiped a tear from her nose "He was killed here on campus" Buffy finished because that was all they knew as they had only just found the body

"I'm guessing the last day we saw him" Caitlin said from where she was led, she didn't look at any of them because she was actually starting to tear up for Dr. Gregory's death and what his death was making her remember in vivid detail.

They all turned to the young teenager, "How do you work that out?" Giles asked and from his angle he could see the tears starting to work their way out of her eyes and wondered if the teacher's death was finally getting to her.

Caitlin shrugged and covered her eyes with her arm so she could cry and not get asked if she was alright, "He didn't change his clothing" her voice was surprisingly steady.

Everyone was silent for a while thinking on that fact and the possibility that it was someone who attended school or worked there but Xander eventually spoke up "This is a question that no one particularly wants to hear, but... where did they put his head?" the brunette shuddered as he finished his question because he didn't want to open up a closet and have the head throw itself at him.

Willow paled even more having the same thoughts as Xander and it wasn't a pretty image, "Good point, I *didn't* wanna hear that," she said as she looked down trying to expel the image.

"Angel!" Buffy got up as she said the mysterious man's name loudly "He warned me that something was coming," she took another sip of water as she walked over to the counter where she put the glass down and affectionately started to rub her sisters stomach hoping to draw her out of the shell she had put herself in.

Giles remembered the conversation he had with Buffy that morning before Caitlin had come "Yes. Yes he did, didn't he? I wish I knew what he meant, I've been trying to gather more information about the Master, our, uh, local vampire king. There was one oblique reference to a, a, a vampire who displeased the Master and cut his hand off in penance," Giles had been researching most of the day because the group in front of him seemed to be the only ones who came to the library and it was mainly Willow and Caitlin from them as well as they came during free period.

"Cut off his hand and replaced it with a fork?" Buffy questioned needing to know if that was the guy she was looking for because if he was then the vampire was going to be old and experienced.

Giles shook his head, "I don't know what he replaced it with" he admitted as it was very vague references.

"So, why would he come after a teacher?" Xander couldn't really see the link between a punished vampire and a science teacher.

Giles nodded "I'm not certain he did; there was an incident two nights ago..." he paused as he walked over to the counter, picked up a newspaper and stood beside Buffy so he could see if Caitlin was responding to Buffy. "...uh, involving a homeless person in Weatherly Park, He was practically shredded, but, uh, nothing like Dr. Gregory" Giles continued as he skim read the article again.

Buffy looked at the paper as she continued with her ministrations "Fork Guy doesn't do heads," she commented before focusing back on Caitlin who removed the arm from her face to look at the others, you couldn't really tell she had been crying unless you were close enough to notice the slight redness around her eyes.

"Not historically," Giles responded as he locked eyes with Caitlin who met them without hostility like she usually did.

"And Dr. Gregory's blood wasn't drained" Caitlin added as an afterthought a vampire was bound to drain the blood from their victims bodies.

The male teenager looked slightly panicked as he spoke up next "So there's something else out there? Besides Silverware man? Oh, this is fun, we're on Monster Island," his voice was a mix between sarcasm and panic.

"We're on a Hellmouth," Caitlin said as an explanation twinged with a little bit of 'duh' in her voice "It's a centre of mystical convergence," she knew what a Hellmouth was, some part of her could faintly feel it.

"Guess it's the same thing," Buffy said as she looked at Xander seeing if he had caught the tone of her sister's voice but he seemed to be none the wiser which she was glad for because Caitlin wasn't in a good mood and it would be bad if her mood escalated past what it already was.

"Well, unpleasant things do gravitate here, it's true, but, uh, we don't know there's anything besides this chap, He's still our likely suspect," they had no other suspect so he was as good as any at the moment.

Buffy turned from Caitlin needing to get some information and maybe be deceitful about it "Where was that guy killed? Weatherly Park?" she asked as she wanted to avenge her teacher's death.

Giles advanced toward the slayer, "Buffy I know you're upset, but, uh, this is no time to go hunting, not until we know more," when he saw the look on Buffy's face he added "please promise me you won't do anything rash?" they didn't know anything about the vampire so until they did she needed to not go after him in case he was more powerful then they assumed.

"Cross my heart," Buffy answered. Caitlin snorted at her sister's answer and jumped off of the counter and quickly stalked out of the library, it was Buffy's fault she was in the mood she had worked herself into. Buffy ran a hand through her hair knowing what her sister was so moody for.

"Is Caitlin alright?" Giles asked he had never seen Caitlin be so moody with Buffy or lash out at her sister so this behaviour seemed strange to the older man.

Buffy looked to where her sister had exited and shrugged not really knowing if she was alright, "Haven't a clue but the sister radar is hitting warning section, so I think she's flipping at me."

~GU:CM~

Buffy walked with Dawn into the house and headed straight for Caitlin's room hoping that she was there but as she entered the room she saw most of her sister's belongings on the floor and knew that Caitlin had taken her frustrations out on her things by throwing them on the floor. Buffy sighed as she heard Dawn enter the room, "What did you do this time?" Dawn asked already knowing that it was Buffy who had pissed Caitlin off because Prue wasn't around.

"I don't know," she answered honestly as she headed out of the room and Dawn followed because both of them knew Caitlin wouldn't want them to clean up her mess. Buffy entered her room and slumped onto her bed, Dawn sat beside Buffy waiting for her to explain what had happened, "we found one of the teachers stuffed into a fridge and Caitlin became really quiet and she even cried then she just started acting really off and then she ran."

"JD," was all Dawn said as she stood up and made her way to her room to get on with her school work. Buffy watched Dawn leave and understanding filled her face; of course it was JD her sister had found him dead. The slayer stood up and went downstairs to get a snack, her sister had blamed her for JD's death and still did so it did explain Caitlin's mood. She just wished that Caitlin would talk to her about it and she remembered how Caitlin had decided to go and spend a few weeks at the manor two weeks after the incident, when she came back she had been jumpy and refused to let people touch her. Buffy put her head down and sighed now knowing what was going to happen between her and Caitlin anymore. She sat like that for a while not knowing how long but she looked up when she felt eyes on her, she looked up and her eyes met the identical ones of her sister.

Caitlin had come to the house for her to get ready for dance seeing as she had calmed down from earlier and was ready to see Buffy again, she didn't know how long she would blame Buffy but she was working through it. The dancer walked through the kitchen intent on going out of the back door because going out the back gate would be quicker, as soon as she stepped into the kitchen she saw Buffy sat with her head down. Caitlin stared at Buffy noticing that she was slumped in defeat and she suddenly felt bad for taking it out on her sister, the older blonde had suffered with guilt for JD's death ever since it happened. If only Buffy knew what had happened just before the young man's death. Once she linked eyes with her sister she could see the tiredness and defeat in her sister's eyes, she couldn't bring herself to tell her sister that she forgave her and didn't want to show it because her best friend had been killed and it was Buffy's fault, her emotions were all over the place and it was time to go. The younger blonde turned and left the kitchen without a single word to Buffy which was so unlike Caitlin. Buffy stared at the back door contemplating what it meant that her sister wasn't talking to her again and she obviously didn't want her near her, "Buffy!" the oldest child jumped at the sound of her mother's voice.

"When did you get in?" Buffy asked and then looked at the clock noticing she had been sat in the kitchen for close to an hour and her mother was meant to be home and probably had been for a few minutes.

Joyce looked concerned the house was quiet and her eldest was sat staring at back door when she walked in, "Buffy what's wrong?" she asked getting straight to the point usually it was Caitlin that sat and stared into space whilst Buffy talked to her constantly to keep her in the present.

The Slayer dropped her head to the table with a thump "something happened at school today and Caitlin started thinking about JD and she's all with the blamey and the ignorey attitude and I'm worried," Buffy admitted as she lifted her head up and watched her mother's face pale.

"JD?" Joyce asked to clear it up and Buffy nodded, Joyce grabbed her keys and headed to her purse pulling out some money and putting it by the phone "Order some Pizza for all of us and if Caitlin and I aren't back by the time it gets here start without us."

Buffy watched her mother rush out of the house after Caitlin and blinked slowly "That was strange," she muttered to herself, their mother usually left Caitlin to calm down on her own if she left the house and she had never run after her like that.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin walked into the library and scuffing her feet on the floor, her head was down and she was wearing headphones over her flat tongued baseball cap. Giles saw her as soon as she entered the library and put his book down on the counter, he watched as she jumped up onto the counter and led down much as she had yesterday. He didn't say much and not just because she had her music in, he had observed her behaviour and had a sense of when to leave her alone so instead he handed her a harmless book written in Latin. Giles knew all four of the teenagers schedules off by heart and had seen some of Caitlin's Latin and was impressed, "Thanks Giles...Buffy went out last night."

Giles nodded his head even though she wasn't looking at him. The two sat alone in silence for almost twenty minutes before Giles went off the make a cup of tea and soon after he returned Buffy came walking in through the library doors and sighed when she noticed Caitlin led on the desk bobbing her head away to music. Giles looked up from the book he was reading "You went hunting last night."

Buffy shot Caitlin a look who pointedly ignored her, she sighed but approached her sister anyways knowing it was stupid for her to be annoyed with Caitlin when she was only looking out for her safety "Yes," Buffy said simply as she ran a hand over Caitlin's stomach showing her she wasn't angry even if Caitlin was still pissed at her.

Giles walked into his office wanting to have the conversation away from Caitlin in case Buffy got annoyed that her little sister had ratted her out. Buffy seemed to know what he was doing and followed behind him. "When you assured me you wouldn't," he took a sip from his mug as he watched for any negative reaction from Buffy. He had been observing the two sisters and had come to a firmer understanding that when one sister was feeling down they would lean on the other and try to get through the situation, with Caitlin being annoyed with Buffy he wasn't sure what was going to happen as it was the first time he had seen it.

Buffy rolled her eyes but didn't outwardly react "Yes, I lied, I'm a bad person, let's move on," she knew getting upset would be useless as they were just looking out for her but it was her job to kill these demons before they hurt someone else and so she needed to be out there patrolling for said demons.

Giles turned away from her to look in his filling cabinet "Did you see someone with a fork?" he couldn't give her too much stick because it was her job he just hated how blasé she was about it sometimes.

"More like a jumbo claw," Buffy corrected she couldn't believe they had been calling it a fork all this time when in no terms was it a fork, forks were small but this thing was massive

Giles turned to face her and subtly looked her over for injures and almost sighed in relief when he didn't see any "Oh. Well, uh, at least you're not hurt," he said acting with practised indifference.

"And I saw something else, something much more interesting than your average run-of-the-mill killer vampire" Buffy continued not noticing his indifferent behaviour and even if she did she had bigger problems than her strange Watcher.

"Oh?" that certainly caught his attention especially if it was stranger than a demon with a massive claw.

"Do you know Miss French, the teacher that's subbing for Dr. Gregory?" Buffy asked without really answering his enquiring tone, she wasn't going to until she knew if he knew the teacher so she didn't have to back track to explain her reasoning.

Giles smiled thinking about the nice substitute teacher "Yes, Yes, she's lovely," he saw Buffy looking at him and he went on to explain "In a, a common, extremely well proportioned way," Giles finished lamely as he started to put some files away.

Buffy nodded knowing that every male seemed to be taken with the new teacher and no one seemed to miss Dr. Gregory "Well, I'm chasing Claw Guy last night, and Miss Well Proportioned is heading home. The Claw Guy takes one look at her and runs screaming for cover,"

The Watcher turned to face Buffy completely and his face filled with confusion "He what? Ran away?" the confusion in his voice matched that on his face, he couldn't think of a logical explanation.

"He was petrified," Buffy added to clear up what she had meant about him running away. Giles blinked "Of Miss French?" his confusion was clear and his need for clarification didn't help Buffy as she needed answers.

Buffy nodded "Uh-huh! So I'm an undead monster that can shave with my hand... How many things am I afraid of?" she asked fearing the worst, demons really didn't run away from other demons unless they were far higher on the food chain or if they were dangerous to them and usually then it could take a while for their flight instincts to over run their fight instincts.

"Not many," Giles confessed a demon with a large claw for a hand would be dangerous to most of the demon community because it would be easy to behead others "And not substitute teachers, as a rule" he said still trying to figure out what Buffy had told him.

"So what's her deal?" Buffy know knew why she had got a weird feeling about the teacher but she had just put it down to looking overly fake but know she was rethinking her assessment.

Giles had to stop himself from shrugging because he knew it wouldn't help and Buffy might call him out on it "I think perhaps it would be a good idea if we kept an eye on her."

Buffy nodded slowly and turned to head off "Then I better get to class," she left the office not waiting to hear if Giles had anything to say. She got back into the main library and noticed Caitlin hadn't stuck around and Buffy swore under her breath, she had wanted to talk to Caitlin but it seemed like Caitlin was still avoiding her.

She left the library and quickly headed to her class trying not to be late, she rushed down the stairs and into the hall her class was in but she doesn't get too far before Principal Flutie stopped her, "You were there. You saw Dr. Gregory, didn't you?" he rushed out and Buffy nodded knowing she couldn't get out of it but she was going to try but before she could open her mouth he cut in, "were you with your sister when Dr. Gregory was found de...found, let's not say dead! Or decapitated, or decomposing, I'd stay away from D-words altogether. But you witnessed the event, so this way, please." Buffy was about to pull out of his grasp to explain how she was late for biology but he didn't let her get a word in again, "I got your sister earlier and she was uncooperative and when I put her in with the counsellor she tried to get out so I had to lock the door."

Buffy stopped in her tracks and Principle Flutie followed soon after, "you put her in with a Counsellor without permission... did you read her file!" Buffy exclaimed and the principle drew back and looked confused, he had only obviously read the bits he wanted to and not the warning their mother had asked to be placed in the file. The blonde started again and hoped she could get to her sister before she did something she would regret, "Caitlin can't be left with a Counsellor without us knowing and *especially* not in a locked room!" Buffy shouted. They arrived at the Counsellor's office and she heard her sister's uneven breathing, she looked at Principle Flutie with a glare and waited for him to unlock the door and as soon as it was unlocked she opened the door almost wrenching it off of the hinges and quickly made her way over to Caitlin and brought her in a hug.

"Excuse me miss but I was having a session with Miss Summers," the Counsellor replied but quickly flinched back when Buffy sent her a glare.

Buffy knelt down beside her sister but turned to the other two in the room; "well if you want to have a session with her either myself or my mother needs to be present" Buffy explained and grabbed a chair so she could be next to her sister to calm both of their nerves.

"I do not, I had a session with your sister last week and neither you nor your mother were present," the Counsellor shot back not liking the teenagers attitude one bit and was glad she had caught her out.

Buffy shook her head and frowned "no but you had a list of things you could not ask Caitlin about that the Head of department gave you because he had cleared it with my mother and I hope you like the warning you got for asking some of them." The Counsellor spluttered at being shown up in front of the Principle and the fact that the teenager knew about the questions meant that Caitlin had spoken to her sister and clearly told her about what she had said about her family.

The talk with the Counsellor had been pointless in the sisters eyes because with both of them together the Counsellor didn't seem to really ask if they were okay just explained stress and nightmares, Buffy wasn't really paying attention because she was listening to what Cordelia was saying in the next room and was utterly confused and surmised Cordelia liked attention and to hear herself speak. Buffy dragged Caitlin to class and she explained what was going on so the both of them ran and when they got to the door they looked in through the door window, "Oh, great, a pop quiz," Buffy muttered and Caitlin's lip twitched with a slight smile.

Both sisters watched as Miss French suddenly straightened up and turned her head 180 degrees so she was looking at the door, both blondes eyes widened and threw themselves away from the door against the wall. "Did ya see that?" Caitlin asked and Buffy nodded eyes still wide and she bounced in excitement "that was so cool," she whispered to her sister and then noticed Buffy raising and eyebrow at her so she forced herself to calm down "also very of the non-human variety," the young teenager added sounding very serious.

"I think we'll wait here for the others, I so don't want to go in there," Buffy crossed her arms and settled in for a wait it was nearing the end of the class anyways and she knew she wouldn't have to wait long but it also meant awkward waiting time with Caitlin if she went back to ignoring her.

Caitlin seemed to know which direction Buffy thoughts had taken so she nudged her lightly and when her big sister turned her head to look at her "are you missing the lesson because of the non-human teacher or the test?" Caitlin asked teasingly and Buffy smirked and shrugged. They waited in silence for a few more minutes before Caitlin spoke up again, "Buffy about yesterday I..." Caitlin didn't get to finish as Buffy grabbed her hand and squeezed it slightly showing that she was forgiven for ignoring her.

Both sisters looked up as the bell rang and hoped that the class was let out quickly so they could get Willow and go to the Library, they didn't wait long as the class was let out fairly quickly and Willow was one of the last ones out of class so when the sisters dragged her away it didn't make much of a scene. Willow looked between both sisters "Where are we going?" she asked as she was being dragged.

"Library something strange is going on," Caitlin responded but didn't really explain. The young teen had left the library soon after Buffy had arrived and then was cornered by the Principle and then saw her substitute teacher turn her neck 180 degrees, she herself wasn't really sure what was going on so to explain would be hard.

Buffy took up where Caitlin left the response "Miss French did something strange with her neck," she hoped that would do for now because she was on a hurry to get to Giles and report to him about her new findings.

"Oh-oh did she do that strange thing when the neck clicks be-because that really grosses me out or maybe she over extended her neck like a crane..." Caitlin placed a hand over Willow's mouth to stop her from babbling and the redhead gave her a grateful look. All three girls entered the library and saw Giles at the table he was clearly researching and not just reading by his stiff posture.

"No, I'm not saying she craned her neck. We are talking full-on Exorcist twist," Buffy clarified now that they were in the library.

Willow pulled a face that clearly stated disgust and horror as she imagined what Buffy had just told her "Ouch!" she stated looking like she wanted to grab her neck but was restraining herself.

"Which reminds me how come Blayne, who worked with her one-on-one yesterday, isn't here today?" Caitlin asked as she looked confused, Blayne may be a jock but he never missed lessons because he didn't want to get kicked off the team so him not being in was confusing.

"Inquiring minds wanna know" Willow responded not really answering the question because she didn't know but she felt like she had to acknowledge Caitlin's question to show she had been heard.

Buffy shrugged not knowing either and she turned to look at Giles "Any luck?" Willow sat down in front of the PC and began a search for anything related to what Buffy had told her on their way to school and the crazy twisting head of their teacher.

"Um, I've not found any creature as yet that strikes terror in a vampire's heart," Giles responded feeling frustrated because he couldn't find anything useful and his curiosity to what Miss French was, was overwhelming and he knew he had to find out.

"Try looking under things that can turn their heads all the way around," Buffy tried to be helpful as she watched Caitlin walking off into the stacks and wondered what she was doing.

Giles looked bewildered by Buffy's statement "Nothing human can do that," he stated and wasn't sure if she was messing with him and being sarcastic or being serious.

Caitlin's voice flooded from the stacks as she tried to help Giles along "No, nothing human there are some insects that can." Buffy's eyes light up at Caitlin trying to defend her from Giles's slightly belittling way of speaking to her.

"Oh my god Cait you're a genius!" Buffy exclaimed suddenly catching Caitlin's train of thought, the teacher had seemed a little too into her bugs and had been offended with what she had said yesterday.

Caitlin smirked as she flicked through the books on bugs as she heard what her sister said and she couldn't help but reply cockily "I know."

"Modest too," Buffy added under her breath and she looked at Giles "Whatever she is, I'm gonna be ready for her," She turned and hopped up the stairs to the stacks to try and find Caitlin.

Giles took off his glasses not sure how to take what Caitlin and Buffy had just said "What are you going to do?" Giles asked wanting to be in the picture again.

Buffy turned to answer him "My homework," she said simply as she continued up into the stacks. Willow looked up at her and smiled thinking that Buffy was actually going to be doing homework whilst everyone else did research and then Willow continued her search. Buffy came running back looking a little lost as she couldn't find Caitlin as her sister had hid wanting to tease Buffy "Where are the books on bugs?"

"What's the matter Buffy can't find me?" Caitlin teased from where she had snuck up behind Buffy, Buffy yelped and spun around making Caitlin laugh hard "I always get you," she got out between laughs.

"Yeah yeah laugh it up," the older sister grumbled good heartedly liking that Caitlin was in a good mood. Giles watched on in shock, he hadn't seen Caitlin either and a quick glance at Willow confirmed that she hadn't seen or heard her either but what was most impressive about it was that Buffy hadn't heard her sister approach with her enhanced senses. Buffy saw Giles's look "What's up Giles?"

"I'm surprised Caitlin snuck up on you," he didn't want to tell her that she wasn't supposed to because with Caitlin in a good mood Buffy would do her job better but it did trouble him slightly that Caitlin could get around with making next to nothing amount of noise, Giles also thought about the upper hand this could give them in a fight.

Caitlin had sobered up at that point and grabbed Buffy's hand "C'mon jumpy let me show you where the books are, you really should learn I mean you spend most of your school time in this room," Caitlin lectured as both of the disappeared from Giles's view.

Buffy came out of the stacks with a book about 10 minutes later "Dig this 'The praying mantis can rotate its head 180 degrees while waiting for its next meal to walk by'," she slammed the book with a loud "Ha!" but she was only met with silence "Well, c'mon, guys. Ha!" she was stocked that she had figured it out on her own, albeit a little help from her younger sister but she found that passage on her own so yay go her.

"Well, Miss French is sort of big for a bug?" Willow asked trying not to hurt Buffy's feelings

"And she is, by and large, woman shaped," Giles added to back the young redhead up because he was finding it hard to believe as well.

Buffy could see where they were coming from but she knew she was right so she made her way down to them and the book was still in her grasp "Okay Factoid 1: Only the praying mantis can rotate its head like that, Factoid 2: A pretty whacked-out vampire is scared to death of her Factoid 3: Her fashion sense screams predator," Buffy finished.

"It's the shoulder pads," Willow agreed with a small nod and then she jumped out of her skin when she heard a voice from beside her.

"Ergh and the perfume," Caitlin had snuck to sit next to Willow and was highly amused when the hacker and Watcher jumped out of their skins from her voice as they hadn't seen her approach. Caitlin pulled a face when she remembered the smell of the perfume and how much Miss French had put on, "no one should wear that much perfume ever but it would attract attention from the opposite sex."

Buffy was highly amused that Caitlin had got Willow and Giles with her ninja act as well as her so she wasn't feeling so bad about her little sister making her jump now "Exactly."

Giles looked thoughtful obviously trying to fit the pieces into Buffy's reasoning "If you're right, then she'd have to be a shape shifter or a perception distorter. On a helpful note, I had a chum at Oxford, Carlyle, advanced degrees in entomology mythology,"

"Entoma-who?" Buffy asked clearly not knowing what entomology was, she was aware of what mythology was because nearly all Halliwell's were fluent in Greek Mythology and she could get by easily with the subject.

"Bugs and fairy tales," Caitlin said as she looked over Willow's shoulder to see what she was doing and had a clear interest in computers, maybe she should get Willow to get her up to speed with programming and hacking.

Buffy huffed not liking the fact Caitlin had said about fairy tales because she knew her sister knew what they were and just for that she wasn't going to thank her for explaining what entomology was "I knew that."

Giles nodded absently at what Caitlin had said and wasn't the least bit surprised that she had known what it was "If I recall correctly, poor old Carlyle, just before he went mad, claimed there was some beast..." Giles was interrupted before he could finish his sentence.

The computer beeping was what interrupted the librarian, Caitlin and Willow focused intently on the screen and the blonde just huh'd whilst Willow called to Buffy "Buffy, 911! Blayne's mom called the school. He never came home last night."

Giles turned to face Willow "The boy who worked with Miss French yesterday?" Giles asked

"Yeah! If Miss French is responsible for..." Willow trailed off and her eyes widened realising who was with her "Xander's supposed to be helping her right now! He's got a crush on a giant insect!" Willow's voice had raised an octave showing her panic about Xander being alone with Miss French.

Buffy saw this and tried to calm her down before she got into full babble mode "Okay, don't panic, I'll warn him but I need you to hack onto the coroner's office for me," Giles looked weary about looking into coroner's reports because he knew they weren't open for the public.

"Well, what are we looking for?" Willow asked already bringing the internet up to link onto the coroner's office; she loved doing this because it tested her skills as well as made her feel like she was needed.

"Autopsy on Dr. Gregory, I've been trying to figures out these marks that I saw on his corpse... I'm thinking they were teeth and, uh, these cuddlies?" Buffy opened the book to the right page and pointed to the picture of the Mantis so Willow could get a general idea of what she was looking for "Should definitely be brushing after every meal," Willow nodded and got on with it whilst Caitlin took the book out of Buffy's hands to have a read of all the boring facts as Buffy dubbed them. Buffy didn't say anything to Caitlin letting her get on with her own thing, she focused on Giles "And you were saying something about a beast?" she recalled what he had general been saying but wasn't good with the details.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I just need to make one transatlantic telephone call," he got up and started to head to his office but the things with the coroners was bugging him so he stopped and turned to look at the three girls "Um, this computer invasion that Willow's performing on the coroner's office, one, one assumes it is entirely legal?"

Willow, Caitlin and Buffy answer simultaneously. Willow said "Entirely!" whilst Buffy replied with "Of course!" and Caitlin smiled at him "Absolutely!"

"Right wasn't here, didn't see it, couldn't have stopped you," Giles remarked as he turned to go back to his office, he could tell just from their responses it wasn't a legal search.

"Good idea," Buffy smiled and said to him. Buffy headed towards the doors leaving Caitlin to read the book to see if she had missed anything and for Willow to search Dr. Gregory's body for strange teeth marks.

With a sigh Caitlin shut the book and placed it on the table, leaning back she looked at Willow and just watched her work. Willow could feel Caitlin's eyes on her but didn't stop what she was doing because she wanted to know what Caitlin was up to, the blonde led her head on the back of the chair and continued to watch Willow working, eventually it got to Willow so she looked over at Caitlin "what?" she asked with a small smile.

Caitlin shrugged and smiled gently at Willow "I just like the look of concentration on your face when you get to work," she shrugged again making it look like it didn't mean anything.

"Really?" Willow asked in a high pitch voice, she was nervous and flattered because no-one had told her anything like that before.

Caitlin nodded and leant forward until her nose almost touched Willow's, she didn't move any further but she saw Willow's eyes dart to her lips more than once "yes really," she whispered and watched as Willow's lips opened slightly at the sensation of Caitlin's breath brushing against her lips. She wasn't teasing Willow as such more like testing her reactions to what she was doing, Caitlin leant back a little and brought her hands up, she ran her thumbs over Willow eyebrows "you're eyebrows draw together." Caitlin moved her thumbs to the corner of Willows mouth "you pout too," she did nothing else and eventually moved her hands away, Willow watched as Caitlin leant back further and she got an expression between disbelief and amusement at her own actions. Willow giggled and went back to work trying not to make the face; Caitlin looked up at the ceiling and started counting the imperfections it had. They sat in silence until Buffy walked back in looking dejected "where's Xander?" Caitlin asked as she continued to look up.

"He didn't believe she was a giant bug and he left but he left alive which is a big tick in the Xander alive column," Buffy said as she went over to the PC to see what Willow had found.

In the silence they could hear Giles on the phone "I-I understand, Carlyle yes... I-I'll take every precaution. Uh, absolutely, i-i-it sounds exactly like the creature you described. Y-you were right all along about everything. Well, n-no, you weren't right about your mother coming back as a Pekinese, but... uh... Try to rest, old man. Yes... Ta! Bye now!" He hung up and came out of his office to inform them on what he had learnt "Dr. Ferris Carlyle spent years transcribing a lost pre-Germanic language. What he discovered he kept to himself until several teenage boys were murdered in the Cotswolds then he went hunting for it."

"It being..." Buffy trailed off not knowing what to call the thing.

"Uh, he calls her a She-Mantis, this type of creature, the Kleptes-Virgo, or, or virgin-thief, appears in, in many cultures. The Greek sirens, the Celtic sea maidens, who, who tore the living flesh from the bones of, um..." Giles started to ramble on about the information.

Buffy cut Giles off before he could bore them to tears "Giles, while we're young!"

Giles was startled by Buffy's interruptions he was completely into what he had been saying "Uh, well, basically the, uh, the She-Mantis assumes the form of a beautiful woman and then lures innocent virgins back to her nest.

"Virgins? Can't they come up with something original...why is it always virgins?" Caitlin asked as she finally looked down from the ceiling. She always wondered why the bad guys were so cheesily unoriginal.

"Well, Xander's not a, uh... I mean, he's probably..." Buffy stuttered not knowing if Xander was a virgin or not and she didn't know if saying he was or not would be insulting to him. It also wasn't a question she often asked her friends unless the subject was bought up.

Willow shot up from her chair with a worried expression, she knew Xander was a virgin "...gonna die!" Caitlin pushed her chair out of the way so Willow could rush past her to the phone.

"Okay, okay, so this thing is breeding and we need to find it and snuff it, any tips on the snuffing part?" Buffy walked around Giles before facing him as she asked.

Giles could only tell her what he had been told seeing as there was no information he could personally find on the monster "Uh, Carlyle recommends cleaving all body parts with a sharp blade."

"Slice and Dice," Caitlin exclaimed as she stood up mimicking the actions and she finished as she stood next to Buffy with a large grin, "I wanna play with the kendo sticks" she made a pout and looked down feeling upset all of a sudden.

Buffy carefully put her arm around Caitlin's waist; the younger sister put her arm around Buffy and dropped her head on to her sister's shoulder and yawned. "you can train with me next time, we can show Giles how it's really done," she shot Giles a teasing smile liking the outraged look on his face, Caitlin looked at him and saw it to and giggled.

The Watcher huffed at being used for teasing but knowing it got Caitlin back on track might have lessened the blow to his ego "Well, whatever you do, it had better be certain and swift. This beast is extremely dangerous," he decided not to comment on Buffy's comment in case it set them off and he really didn't want to be the brunt of their teasing if it could be avoided.

Buffy didn't seem too bothered by what he was saying "Well, your buddy Carlyle faced it, and he's still around," right now she wanted to stay with Caitlin but she knew it wasn't possible seeing as the she-mantis was still on the loose and needed to be stopped.

Giles could understand why she would believe it would be easy but she did underestimate what they were facing "Yes, in a straitjacket, howling his innards out day and night."

Caitlin pulled a face and stiffened at the mention of straightjackets "Okay, Admiral, way to inspire the troops!" The eldest Summers child didn't like the sound of that and frowned accordingly when she felt Caitlin stiff and tense in her hold.

"Sorry..." Giles muttered and caught the sudden change to in Caitlin's mood and frowned to himself, he had no idea what had set her off. He had read the girls file many times trying to get information on what made her change emotions so quickly, he knew she had Cyclothymia as it was in her file but some of Caitlin's file was sealed to everyone bar the principle and higher ups. The answer to his questions would be in that file, he would ask Willow to hack into it but he didn't want what was in there to affect what Willow thought of the younger girl.

Willow came back to the others panic was written all over her face, she had just gotten off of the phone with Xander's mother and clearly the results weren't good "Xander's not home! He told his mom he was going to his teacher's house to work on a science project, he didn't tell her where."

Caitlin lifted her head off of Buffy's shoulder and focused on Willow "We'll see if we can get her address off the substitute rolls," Willow nodded and the girls set off to find out where the substitute lived

"And you need to record bat sonar, and fast" Buffy said to Giles after the other two had gone off to search for where they had to head out after they had gotten everything.

"Bat sonar, right" Giles nodded absently "What?" he backtracked not understanding what she needed bat sonar for.

Buffy found it funny how she knew something Giles didn't but they were kind of busy for gloating right now "Bats eat them," she explained and lead her Watcher to the stairs in order for him to get what she wanted him to get "The mantis hears sonar, its entire nervous system goes kaplooey."

Giles let himself be led he had processed why but now he didn't understand where he was going to get it "Where am I gonna find the..." he was interrupted by Buffy

"In the vid library? There're no books, but it's dark and musty, you'll feel right at home, go!" she pushed him in the direction slightly and then talked to herself "I guess I'll handle the armoury." She went into the cage and started to arm herself when Willow and Caitlin came back "didja get it?"

"Yeah we got it, so are we going?" Caitlin asked as she looked at the weapons Giles had, she grabbed a dagger and expertly spun it in her hand. She had weapon training with her martial arts so she knew how to handle one and use one, daggers interested her anyway and short swords were her specialty.

The Slayer watched her sister easily spin the dagger around and wondered if anything caught her eye "see anything you like?" Buffy asked as she finished getting what she wanted.

Caitlin shook her head, nothing really appealed to her in the cage so she made her way back over to Willow and leant in towards the redhead until their noses were almost touching again "You're doing it again," she whispered with a teasing tone. Caitlin lifted her hands to smooth over the scrunched brows, Buffy watched her sisters tender movements and wondered if she had a thing for Willow, after this was done she was going to ask her sister.

Willow smiled shyly and her face smoothed out, Caitlin's hands dropped as Giles came back into the room. "I've acquired the sonar."

"Let's go then," Buffy walked out of the cage and followed Willow and Caitlin who were closely walking behind Giles as he led them to his car.

~GU:CM~

The group got out of Giles's car and approach Miss French's house, they were all wondering what they should do because they couldn't exactly barge in there Giles was the first one to speak up "What now, exactly? We can't just kick the door down.

Buffy nodded knowing he was right because that would bring too much attention to themselves and they couldn't risk the police being called "Yeah, that *would* be wrong," she may have agreed but she had a little bit of sarcasm coating her words. She took a look around but decided that kicking the door down would be the best bet because it meant they had the element of surprise, she got ready to kick but the door opened to reveal an old lady.

Caitlin leant over to talk to Willow "Are you sure we got the right address?" she asked quietly, Willow nodded looking bewildered.

The old Lady looked between all of them with a bright smile on her face until she focused on Buffy "Hello, dear! I thought I heard... Are you selling something? Because I'd like to help you out, but... You see, I'm on a fixed income," she sent her an apologetic smile waiting for the girl to say something.

"I'm looking for Miss French," Buffy explained to the old lady what they were all doing there. She knew Caitlin and Willow hadn't gotten the wrong address because they were just too smart to get it wrong.

The old lady smiled and nodded "I'm Miss French." Miss French didn't seem to mind that they were taking up her time unlike most people would have especially how late it was getting.

Buffy said nothing for a few seconds, this was not the substitute they had been having for the last couple of days, a quick glance over her shoulder told her that everyone was in the same state as she was "Natalie French, the substitute biology teacher?" she clarified just to be sure

Miss French laughed happily at hearing what Buffy had said "Goodness, that's me! I taught for over thirty years, I retired in 1972," Buffy's mouth dropped open, Caitlin's eyebrows shot up to her hair line whilst Giles and Willow looked baffled

"I can't believe this! She used Miss French's records to get into the school, she could be anywhere!" Buffy turned to Giles as she spoke completely ignoring the old lady at the door.

Miss French shook her head "No, dear! I'm right here!" she had heard what Buffy said but misinterpreted it and misunderstood what Buffy had been saying. Buffy looked at her and didn't know how to take her, Caitlin didn't want to go closer to her because she wasn't particularly fond of people she didn't know especially old people, she found them to hypocritical, her Doctor had been old. "We're sorry to disturb you Miss French it appears we have the wrong Miss French," Giles said trying to sound apologetic instead of baffled.

Miss French assured them it was alright and then closed the door. The group turned and headed back to the car thinking of what to do next "well that was a bust," Caitlin remarked feeling rather annoyed. Buffy understood her feeling that way and just rubbed her back knowing that commenting on it would probably piss her off.

"What do we do now?" Willow was understandably sounding frustrated as it was her and Caitlin who gotten tricked with the wrong address. It seemed too easy for it to be the right address, nothing was ever as it seemed and she hoped that their mistake didn't cost Xander his life.

"Abject prayer and supplication would spring to mind," Giles responded feeling slightly hopeless because their one lead had gone cold, they had no way of finding Miss French and as such no way of finding Xander.

Buffy was going to give up and was racking her brain for information, she was the one who first suspected the teacher and was going over what she had seen, "I saw her walking past this park with her grocery bags, she lives in this neighbourhood." Of that she was certain but it was deciding where in the neighbourhood.

"I'm gonna start banging on doors," Willow started to head for the next house; it was a plan not a very efficient plan but a plan none the less.

Caitlin quickly gripped Willow's arm to stop her from moving "Wait, you can't just go knocking on random people's door Wills, it's incredibly stupid, you don't know who they are!" Caitlin exclaimed angrily, Willow flinched back from the anger in Caitlin's voice. The blonde released the older girl and turned away from everyone, she gripped her hair as she usually did when she lost control of her emotions.

"We do *not* have time for that!" Buffy aided her sister out before something set her off further. The youngest of the group took some deep breaths and turned back around but just looked at the ground, she was calm again but feeling awfully mortified.

Willow decided to ignore Caitlin for now in punishment for how she reacted, she was vaguely aware of a small part of her that knew Caitlin wasn't really at fault "We have to do something!" she wouldn't sit back and do nothing.

"We will and I think I know how to find him, I've just got to find the sewer entrance," Buffy explained no more to the others as she headed for where she saw the Claw guy disappear down when he ran away from the She-Mantis. The others followed her wanting to know what she was doing, Willow shot Caitlin a look as she sighed in annoyance, the redhead assumed she was sighing at the thought of helping Xander when really she was sighing at herself. Buffy quickly arrived at the manhole cover and lifted it off and without speaking to the others she started to climb in "I won't be long," she didn't give them time to reply as she disappeared from view.

"W... Buffy?" Giles called down the hole wondering what his Slayer was up to. Seeing that it was useless to try and get Buffy to come back up Giles turned to see Willow almost glaring at Caitlin, while Caitlin continued to look at the floor. Only Giles and Buffy knew about Caitlin reactions and why they were caused, "Willow" Giles called softly to grasp the girls attention. Willow looked up at Giles and she saw him shaking his head at her whilst glancing at Caitlin, he was telling her not to react.

Willow knew she shouldn't be taking Caitlin's reaction badly because she was smart enough to know something was wrong with Caitlin in general, even if she didn't know what it was exactly, so she knew not to take it all to heart. The slightly older girl went over to Caitlin and placed her hand on her shoulder, Caitlin hadn't been expecting the touch so naturally she jumped at the contact but it was more of a flinch as her muscles tightened up. Both Giles and Willow observed this but didn't comment, Willow quickly moved to where Caitlin could see her and hoped it would relax the girl, and sure enough she relaxed but didn't make any eye contact.

Silence was broken when Buffy hauled herself out of the sewer entrance dragging a reluctant Claw guy with her. Grunting with effort Buffy launched the creature up onto the road a few metres away from her, Willow's eyes widened at the massive amount of strength portrayed "he's gonna help us find She-Mantis," Buffy explained as she heaved the vampire onto his feet and pushed him in the general direction of the She-Mantis. "Come on! Come on, where is she? Which house is it? I know you're afraid of her, I saw you! Come on!" The Claw Guy began to react to Natalie's presence, he struggled against the Slayer's grip but she continued to push him onwards, "Come on, what? What is it? This is her, isn't it, this is her house? This is it! Better than radar!" Buffy rambled feeling very smart for once; she let him go assuming that the vampire was going to run away like he had previously.

Caitlin who had been following noticed the creature cutting his binds with his strange bladed hand "Buffy!" she warned as the creature swung for Buffy. Buffy managed to lean back in time, only to trip and fall backwards over the miniature picket fence running along the walk to the house. Claw Guy jumped to follow but Caitlin was quick to act and jump on his back, Caitlin wrapped her legs securely around the creature's waist and secured her arms around his neck in a chokehold, whilst it wouldn't render him unconscious it made it difficult and uncomfortable for him to move. Buffy saw what Caitlin was doing as she shuffled back from the monster's advances, her back bumped into the small picket fence, She ripped a picket from the fence and thrust it into Claw Guy as he took another swing at her. Caitlin pushed off of the creature thrusting him further into the picket, Claw guy collapsed to the floor dead.

Giles breathed a sigh of relief when he was sure the monster was dead, "do you always do that?" he asked.

Neither sister was sure who he had asked but the both smiled sheepishly and shrugged, Buffy opened her mouth to make a rather snappy comment at him but she was interrupted "HEEEELLLLP! HEEEELLLLP!" they all heard Xander scream from what sounded like the basement.

Buffy rushed around the house until she saw the basement window, lifting her leg she smashed the window open and effortlessly slide into the basement with Caitlin close behind her.

"Uh hey o-over here, hello! In the cage!" Blayne called desperately when he saw the two sisters.

Buffy pulls her bag though the window and turned to the She-Mantis "Let him go!" she demanded. Buffy and Caitlin ran down the stairs and as Buffy set the bag down Willow climbed in the window and she rushed down the stairs to cage to get Blayne out as Caitlin and Buffy picked up the bug spray and proceeded to spray the She-Mantis, the spray started to disorient the huge bug.

Giles finally climbed in the window and rushed to help Willow open the cage, Buffy motioned to Xander as Blayne continued to beg for help "Get them outta here!" Caitlin continued to spray the bug as Buffy got out the tape recorder with the bat sonar and a machete she had picked for the job. Giles undid the leather straps that were holding Xander, Willow had opened the cage but Blayne cowered in the corner waiting until the bug was deadest. The She-Mantis knew she needed to readjust her senses but she didn't get much time as Buffy started to close in on her "Remember Dr. Gregory? You scarfed his head? Yeah, well, he taught me, you do your homework, you learn stuff. Like what happens to your nervous system when you hear this!" she pressed play on the tape but Giles voice came out from the speakers.

"...extremely important to file not simply alphabetically..." the words smoothly came from the speakers not knowing the damage it was causing to the others in the room.

Buffy stared at it in disbelief, she had expected the bat sonar to come out of the speakers, she turned to her Watcher "Giles!"

Giles pointed at the She-Mantis who had regained her bearings "I-it's the wrong side!"

The She-Mantis knocked the tape recorder and machete from Buffy's unsuspecting hands. Giles watched the recorder fly over him, hit the ground and slide under a refrigerator. He scrambled to get it. Caitlin is the next to get knocked as the huge bug swung at her to get the bug spray away from her so she could fully get her senses back. Buffy turned her attention back on the bug. She-Mantis tried to trip Buffy, but she jumped over her claw. Xander picked up Caitlin's discarded cans and came up next to Buffy and sprayed it into the Bugs face. Buffy shook her head as she pushed him away from danger, as Buffy was distracted by Xander the She-Mantis took advantage and knocked her down. Buffy raised herself onto her hands and one leg and with the other does two crouching side kick to big bug's legs to keep her at bay. Giles searched under the refrigerator, he managed to grab it, he turned around and set the recorder right, Buffy grabbed at the machete as she fought the massive bug. Giles quickly held the recorder in front of him and pressed play, the sounds of bat sonar work instantly; it severely hurt and disorient the huge mantis. She flailed her claws around hoping to keep her enemy at bay.

"Bat sonar makes your whole nervous system go to Hell. You can go there with it!" Buffy commented smugly as she slashed at Natalie ferociously and continually with the machete, hacking her to pieces. When she finished she was breathing heavily. Everyone approached the hacked up body and just stared at the carnage.

Giles is the first to speak "Well, I... I'd say it's deceased," he pointed out the obviously for a lack of better things to say, he felt he needed to say something to stop the strange silent staring.

Willow nodded "And dissected," she added feeling the need to add something onto the end, she was making a reference to the Mantis species as they were usually dissected in science class, it was almost ironic that she taught science for a brief stint.

Xander looked to Buffy "You okay?" he asked. He had seen her get knocked down because he had distracted her, Buffy nodded with a brief confirmation that she was, "Just for the record, you were right, I'm an idiot, and God bless you!" Buffy lowered her head; it wasn't like she wanted to be right. Xander turned to the others "And thank you guys, too." Blayne was quick to agree with Xander for the rescue.

"Pleasure..." Giles wasn't quite sure how to react seeing as he had never really rescued anyone before, he was still getting used to the thanks.

"I'm really glad you're okay. It's so unfair how she only went after virgins," Willow almost laughed at the look on Blayne's face. Xander laughed and looked back and forth between the girls trying to decide if they were actually being serious, he focused back on Willow and asked her to explain with a very well placed 'What?' "I mean, here you guys are, doing the right thing, the smart thing, when a lot of other boys your age..."

"Flag down on that play, babe. I am *not*..." Blayne interrupted her with an insulted look marring his face. The cheek of her insinuating that he was a virgin was beyond his comprehension, how dare her.

Giles decided to interrupt him before he went on a rant trying to defend himself even though they all knew he was because the She-Mantis was able to tell that he was "Well, you see, that's the She-Mantis' modus operandi. Uh, she only preys on the pure."

Xander looked resigned knowing he couldn't argue with them seeing as they had researched her "Well, isn't this a perfect ending to a wonderful day!" he exclaimed using heavy sarcasm

Blayne was still reluctant to admit that he was a virgin "My dad's a lawyer. Anyone repeats this to anybody, they're gonna find themselves facing a lawsuit," his voice was really grating on everyone's nerves and especially because he was refusing to believe them.

Caitlin snapped her head in Blayne's direction "Blayne! Shut up! Before I shut you up and put you back in the fucking cage!" Blayne look frightened at Caitlin's rage. Caitlin was already on her last nerve before she got there and now she was furious, it didn't take much to make her like that but it still worried Buffy. Buffy pulled Caitlin to her and wrapped her arms around her little sister's waist to keep her in place. Caitlin could feel Buffy's even breathing and concentrated on it to help her calm down.

The middle girl turned from the youngest and eldest girls in the group, she had been afraid of Caitlin when she snapped but now she was being calmed down she wasn't so scared of her. "I don't think it's bad, I think it's really..." Xander raised the machete up to show Willow and was a silent threat "...sweet! It's certainly nothing I'll ever bring up again," the girl was smart enough to change what she was going to say as to not really offend her childhood friend. Xander turned to the nest and started to attack it.

Whilst the others were watching Xander, Buffy decided to talk to her sister "Baby?" she asked as a prompt for her to say what was wrong. Only problem with Buffy's tactic is that Caitlin had decided to clamp up around the others, she obviously didn't want Blayne to spread rumours about her, Buffy seemed to understand Caitlin's feelings "okay baby, later?" she asked quietly not wanting the others to know as Caitlin didn't want them to, Caitlin jerked out a nod.

Giles had decided to get the others home, "Xander that's quite enough" Xander gradually stopped "now I think it's best if I take Mr Mall home whilst you four go home as well," the four teenagers and watched as Giles turned and headed out of the basement with Blayne following him.

"Guess we better get going," Xander was feeling tired from the day's events and he just wanted to sleep off the fear and embarrassment. Willow glanced at the sisters but followed Xander as she didn't really want to deal with Caitlin, she was still a little annoyed from her outburst earlier.

Caitlin watched them go and struggled in Buffy's grip but the Slayer didn't release her, eventually Caitlin stopped and allowed Buffy to hug her for a little longer "Willow's pissed at me," she declared unhappily.

Buffy looked to where the other two had disappeared and knew they were waiting for them, she gave Caitlin one last squeeze and let her go "that's because she doesn't know what's wrong and you did kind of call her stupid, admittedly her suggestion wasn't the right one but calling it incredibly stupid probably wasn't the smartest thing you've ever done." Heaving out a sigh Caitlin followed her sister without a word, she knew it was true and she knew she'd have to apologise.

~GU:CM~

Buffy sat beside her pouting younger sister whilst they watched 'Terminator 2: Judgement Day' with Dawn, she couldn't suppress the amused grin that was on her face. Caitlin had wanted to watch 'Se7en' but Buffy had quickly shot that down because none of them were actually old enough to watch it. Caitlin and Buffy had seen it with Paige and Phoebe when it had come out, they had snuck the two younger ones in but Buffy didn't want to deal with Dawn's nightmares. "Cait C'mon stop pouting please," Dawn begged as she looked up at Caitlin from where he head rested against the blonde's shoulder. Caitlin stopped pouted but didn't seem any happier, Dawn turned to Buffy for an insight, Buffy shook her head lightly hoping Dawn wouldn't push and luckily the youngest seemed to get the hint. Buffy slipped in behind Caitlin so that all three of them could get comfortable on Caitlin's bed.

"How am I going to make it up to her Buffy?" Caitlin suddenly asked Buffy half way through the film, Buffy paused the film and looked down at Caitlin whilst Dawn looked up at them both in confusion. Caitlin scratched her head feeling frustratingly lost, she didn't really want to tell her new friends that she wasn't legally sane and was Bi-polar, it just didn't sit well with the get to know them stage.

Buffy grabbed Caitlin's hand and stopped her frustrated habit "You really snapped at Willow earlier Cait," it wasn't a question but a statement but Caitlin nodded nonetheless "You called her stupid and she took offence... I'd suggest you apologise and offer an explanation."

Dawn raised her brows in surprise she never expected for Caitlin to call anyone other than their father stupid. "How do you tell your new friends you're Bi-polar?" Caitlin asked she was frowning she couldn't tell if she was annoyed or angry. Buffy shrugged seeing as she didn't have a clue and Dawn looked helpless, both of the sisters had grown up with the knowledge and knew what to expect from Caitlin whereas other didn't know. Caitlin wasn't ashamed at having Cyclothymia but it wasn't exactly a good way to start a conversation, the middle child just waved her hand and looked back at the screen effectively stopping the conversation. She would have to think about it later and come up with something concrete to show she was as sorry as she felt.

~GU:CM~

There was a new science teacher and he was boring everyone "All midterm papers will be exactly six pages long, no more, no less. One third of your grade will be dependent on those papers. No more, no less," the bell rand startling Buffy who had been day dream and Xander who had been sleeping. Everyone started to pack their things to leave, Caitlin turned to Willow and gave her a short smile, they hadn't really spoken since last night but Willow was glad Caitlin was making an effort. Xander put his arms over both of the younger girl's shoulders and led them out of the room with Buffy following them with a soft smile. Buffy saw Dr. Gregory's glasses still on the lab bench where she left them the day before, She picked them up and remembered him and how he had treated her, she turned a little and saw Dr. Gregory's jacket still hanging on the hook on the closet door, with a sad smile she went over to put the glasses in a pocket.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin sat outside the front of the school waiting for Willow to walk out, she hoped she wouldn't take too long because it was her turn to pick up Dawn so she couldn't wait around forever. She knew what she had to do to get Willow to forgive her she had to open up to her, something she hadn't done since she was a lot younger. Willow could see Caitlin waiting for her and knew she had to go over to her so the younger girl could apologise but she was still angry at the blonde, she recognised she shouldn't be upset with Caitlin because something was clearly wrong with her, she just wish she knew what. Caitlin heard someone approaching but didn't look up, she should look up but she couldn't face her. Willow sat down beside the troubled girl but made no move to speak to her "I've considered what to say y'know? I've asked what I should say but the only thing I can think of is I'm sorry," she finally looked up and saw Willow smiling softly at her, what?

The redhead smiled at Caitlin's words, she appreciated the apology and that the fact that Caitlin was trying to open up to her. "I'll accept when I find out why you snapped at me out of the blue," she shouldn't be pushing Caitlin but she just really wanted to know what made the sweet Caitlin turn into the angry and short-tempered Caitlin.

Nodding her head Caitlin stood up and offered her hand to Willow, who took it but made no move to get up "Come with me to get Taz and I'll try to explain it at home," she tried not to sound desperate but she didn't quite succeed. Willow nodded her acceptance to Caitlin, who grinned and pulled the older girl up; she headed in the direction of Dawn's school with Willow's hand firmly within her own.

They remained silent as they walked because neither knew what to say to the other but the silence wasn't awkward, the other found comfort in the other's presence as both had been worrying that their friendship was over before it had even begun after last night's spat. Willow had no idea why she was still holding Caitlin's hand; she just didn't want to let it go which she found strange, she was technically still angry at Caitlin. As those thoughts went through her head Caitlin let go of Willow's hand, the redhead looked to Caitlin almost to ask her why she let go and when she did focus on the blonde she saw that Caitlin was looking toward the school. The older girl turned her gaze to where the younger girl was looking, what she saw kind of surprised her, a girl of about 10 was running towards them but that wasn't what surprised her, the girl was kind of tall and lanky, her hair was dark and she had blue eyes. She didn't really look much like Caitlin or Buffy other than the facial features.

"Cait!" Dawn exclaimed as she rushed towards her older sister and jumped. Caitlin easily caught Dawn and settled her younger sister against her, slightly startled at the public affection the older sister raised her brow. Dawn threw her arms around Caitlin and shrieked in excitement "we did some writing for English last week and my teacher Mr Hickle said that mine was so good he was going to publish it in the school newsletter!" she shouted in excitement, she hadn't taken notice of Willow yet but neither girl could blame her.

Whilst holding Dawn close she dropped a kiss to her forehead with a large smile "that's great Taz congratulations, you gotta phone Grams tonight and tell her," Dawn nodded in excitement knowing what that meant, she was going to get huge praise from all of her family. Dawn caught the sight of someone out of the corner of her eye, she blinked then blushed realising who it was from the description that Caitlin had given her. Caitlin allowed Dawn to get down from her arms and then pulled her over to Willow "Dawn this is Willow Danielle Rosenberg, Willow this is Dawn Summers."

Willow waved shyly at the young girl but Dawn wasn't going to settle for that so she threw her arms around Willow "It is so cool to meet you," she pulled back with a large cheeky beam. Caitlin laughed and grabbed Dawn's bag from the floor and threw it over her shoulder, Dawn turned back to Caitlin "can you help me with my math tonight?" she asked knowing the answer already.

"Of course I will but I've got to talk with Willow first," the older sister responded with a small smile directed at Willow. Willow was a little surprised Caitlin had told Dawn as she was so young but then it was her sister and she lived with her so it was likely she would know what was going on with Caitlin.

The young girls smile slipped off of her face, she was worried about her sister again "can you handle that, I mean last night you were…" she glanced at Willow who was frowning in confusion, Dawn decided being vague would be best "y'know."

The older sister nodded "It's probably better that someone else knows about it just in case I get in trouble Taz," her sister let the frown dissipate from her face but the concern continued to show in her eyes. Caitlin grabbed Willow's hand again and slipped her arm over Dawn's shoulder, she started to lead them back the house.

Willow could see that Caitlin was nervous but couldn't do anything to elevate that worry because she didn't know what was causing the worry. Caitlin finally looked at Willow and opened her mouth just to close it seconds later; she closed her eyes and took a deep breath "I'm not normal," she spoke seriously as she opened her eyes to look at her redheaded friend.

The older girl chuckled at the look on her younger girl's face and the words that accompanied that look "I know that." Caitlin smiled a little but the worry never left her face, Willow reached over and grabbed the blonde's hand "you've got nothing to worry about Caitlin; I'm not going to run off if you tell me."

Looking at their joint hands Caitlin nodded to show she understood, meeting Willow's emerald green eyes again, Caitlin managed to say what was really on her mind "I have a disorder." Willow reacted slightly but not in the way Caitlin expected, the older girl just raised her eyebrow as if to tell her to continue. Caitlin finally smiled a real smile since walking in her room and started to relax, she hadn't exactly had positive reactions when she had told people "I have a type of Bi-polar, Cyclothymia. That's why I snapped at you and why I seem normal one minute and completely different the next. Some days I don't have any episodes and others I can have them more often, my medication does sort of balance me out."

Willow nodded as Caitlin spoke, she was storing the information away so she could look it up later "so sometimes you just snap at people for no reason?" she asked wanting to understand fully. Caitlin pulled a face and shrugged "that wasn't really helpful Caitlin," Willow remarked.

"Generally it does come out of nowhere but other times it can build up and I'll explode for the tinniest of things," Caitlin answered with a shrug not really knowing if she was explaining it right but just saying what she experienced.

"Okay," Willow finally said with a nod. She was telling Caitlin she was okay with being snapped at and that she was forgiven without saying it as Caitlin hadn't technically asked.

Caitlin look a little confused at first but then she clicked and smiled tentatively "Okay?" she asked to be sure. Willow grinned and nodded; Caitlin returned the expression and finally relaxed onto her bed.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin looked at the house she was stood in front of, it wasn't an overly upscale house but she could sense that this house was a home, it was well kept and it even had flowers in the garden. She knew she needed to do this but some small part of her couldn't help feeling like she shouldn't be, it wasn't really her place after all, it wasn't really her business. The other part of her knew she had to because she doubted that anyone else would, doubted Giles would either even though it was sort of his job to do it. Caitlin took in a deep breathe and then let it go slowly, she hoped she wasn't going to be in for a fight, they seemed like they would though and that just made Caitlin want to forget about it all together. The young blonde walked through the cast iron gate and headed up the paving slabs until she was at the front door, she raised her hand and knocked three times. She hadn't waited long before the door opened to reveal who she was here to talk to "Hello Amy, we need to talk," Caitlin greeted with a small and, what she hoped, reassuring smile.

**\Silver-Eternal-Dragon/**


	5. Chapter 5

Never Kill a Boy on the First Date

Amy stepped out of her class and headed for her locker, she was in high spirits; she was living with her dad who loved having her around and was trying to make up for not being there. She was back in her own body and she was loving it, her mother had been horrible to her but she had helped Amy to slim down, which she was loving. The teenager spotted her friend in front of her and decided to call to her "Caitlin!" Amy shouted and waved as the blonde turned to look in her direction. Amy smiled as Caitlin headed straight for her. The older teen wrapped Caitlin up in a tight hug, ignoring the tensing that the younger teen did when her arms were around her; she released the young blonde and continued to smile.

"Hey Amy you're in a good mood today," Caitlin's quiet voice carried even in the noisy corridor. She hadn't seen the older brunette since she stopped off at her house on the weekend. She had found she enjoyed Amy's company; she had been reserved when she first entered the Madison household but that was because Amy had put a blood vengeance spell on her sister. It took Caitlin a while to deal with the fact that even though it was Amy's body it wasn't actually Amy it was Catherine, Amy's mother; that had cast the spell.

Amy grinned at her friend; she entwined their arms and headed towards her locker. She had enjoyed spending time with Caitlin on the weekend, she hadn't really socialised recently seeing as she had been locked up in the house as her own mother. "I have plenty of reasons to be in a good mood but the most recent one is I took your advice, I'm going to start this weekend," Amy informed Caitlin with a small smile, she had taken the advice purely because Caitlin knew what she was talking about. She didn't want a repeat of a few weeks ago.

Caitlin smiled as they neared Amy's locker "That's good to know Amy, I'm glad. It will be a lot of help to you but if there is anything else you might need help with on the subject please let me know I might be able to help." Amy unlocked her locker and started putting her books away, she nodded her head to Caitlin as she was what she was saying was true. Caitlin looked at her watch and noticed she was meant to be meeting Buffy "I've gotta go Amy but keep in mind what I said and I'll see you later," Caitlin grinned and started heading for the Library. The teenager was glad that Amy had taken her advice and felt better about going to see her during the weekend. Caitlin walked past Owen as she entered the Library but didn't really give him a look, Buffy had told her all about how hot Owen was but being gay it was kind of a moot point with her.

Caitlin jumped up onto the counter like she usually did and kept quiet as she didn't want to interrupt anything. "The Order of Aurelius is a very old and venerated sect. If they're here, it's for a good reason," Giles gave Caitlin a brief nod but his main focus was Buffy who just carried on looking at the double doors.

Buffy stared dreamily at where Owen had just left "That was Owen!" she gave a little sigh as she ignored what Giles was trying to tell her.

The younger blonde snorted in amusement her sister was a love struck puppy. Giles didn't share the younger blonde's amusement in fact he was exasperated, why must she be so easily distracted "Yes, I remember," he responded after all the boy had just left.

"Do you have any more copies of Emily Dickinson? I need one," Buffy asked as she finally took notice of Caitlin and smiled to her little sister who grinned back thoroughly amused by her sister.

Giles was bordering exasperation at this point but he knew getting angry with her at this point would do nothing but make her get angry back, "Buffy, while the mere fact of you wanting to check out a book would be grounds for a national holiday, I think we should focus on the problem at hand."

Caitlin nudged Buffy with her foot to get the older blonde's attention back to the present "Right I'm sorry, you're right. Vampires," her voice trailed off as she looked down at what she was wearing and then looked to both Giles and Caitlin "Oh, does this outfit make me look fat?" Buffy asked in all seriousness. Caitlin blinked at the question before throwing her head forward to try and cover up her laughter; Giles took his glasses off with a sigh and started to clean them so he could keep his patience with his slayer.

Caitlin idly scratched her head as she walked towards the lunchroom, she had been asked to stay behind in her history class, she wasn't in trouble in fact she was being offered a reward for an essay she had written her first week of school and her teacher had to tell her about the award ceremony.

As soon as she entered the lunchroom she saw Willow look over at her and wave her over, she sat next to Willow and gave the older girl a smile. Xander held up his fork to halt conversation and draw attention to him "Has anybody given any thought to what this green stuff is?"

The youngest blonde looked over to the stuff and wrinkled her nose "It may be green but even as a vegetarian I would not eat it, It looks like a vegetable threw it up," she shuddered and turned away from the food to get her own food out of her bag.

"I think it's kale, or possibly string cheese," Xander responded as he dropped his fork then turned his attention to Buffy "So, Buffy, how'd the slaying go last night?" he asked not seeming to notice how loud he was being and so inconspicuous he really was.

Buffy shot him a stern look and decided to reprimand him "Xander!" Xander looked taken back as he realised what he said "keep the volume down big mouth." She looked around to see if anyone had heard him say that but she was glad no one was really looking their way.

The only male at the table realised what he said and quickly went to correct himself "I mean, how'd the *laying* go?" he asked with a smile and a few nods of his head. Buffy shot him another look but quickly turned to glare at her sister who was stifling a laugh behind her "No, I don't mean that either," Xander amended.

Caitlin was still chuckling behind her hand, Willow nudged her when Buffy's glare got worse. The young blonde took a few deep breaths to talk calm down but still let out the occasional snicker when she glanced at Xander "smooth," she whispered to him as she finally stopped laughing.

Rolling her eyes Buffy decided to ignore her sisters happy mood and talk to Xander "It went fine, thank you. There's some new hoidy-toidy vampire sect in town,"

That caught everyone's attention and gave them reason to ignore the crappy food they had gotten "That's bad," Willow commented as she pushed her food away slightly.

"Well, hey, they're bringing in the much needed tourist dollars," Xander shrugged not really worrying seeing as Buffy was around and she seemed to be able to kill all the baddies so far. Something catches the males eye and he turns a little to see Owen "Ooo, look at Mr Excitement," he pointed out to the girls knowing they had been speaking about him earlier.

Buffy spun quickly to look at the guy she was pining over "Owen! He's all alone! Maybe somebody should sit with him," she suggested slyly hoping her friends got the hint. She turned back around and started to pick up her tray of food. Caitlin gave a barely visible nod as her attention was distracted by Willow's hand which the redhead had just moved onto the table.

Willow caught on and nodded to Buffy showing she was okay with it "Mm, just to be polite!" Willow quickly looked over to Caitlin who had grabbed up her hand, the younger girl looked quiet fascinated by the limb. Buffy got up and returned Willow's attention to her "Good luck!"

Xander looked between Willow and Buffy's retreating form "Okay, what just happened?" he asked looking lost, Willow shook her head knowing he hadn't listened to anything they had said earlier so she waved him off.

The youngest member at the table stretched her arms above her head "Buff's got the hots for 'Mr Excitement'," Caitlin air quoted Xander's previous name for Owen. Comprehension crossed the brunettes face and nodded, he followed Buffy with his eyes as she started talking to Owen and sighed whilst wondering when she would take notice of him.

Willow looked sad for her friend and his crush but knew she could do nothing to help him, looking over to Caitlin she remembered that the blonde was late "why were you late to Lunch Caitlin?" she asked as she moved her tray further away from her in disgust.

"Something about an award ceremony for a bit of History work I did. It was just a good thing that it was to do with Ancient Greece," Caitlin said whilst fiddling with her ear. She was confused why the Teacher wanted to produce her work at the ceremony, she didn't think it was anything special and her previous teachers never really cared about her work.

Xander leant forward to talk to the girls sat opposite him easier "Congratulations on the award and why was it a good thing it was on the Greeks?" Xander asked looking confused, it was a strange thing to be a good thing. Willow nodded wanting to know the same thing.

The blonde leant back and ran her hand through her head with a slight tug at the end "Perri is obsessed with Greeks gods and incidentally with her obsession we all learnt a lot about Ancient Greek times. So really I know a lot about that era and it only took me about an hour to do the work." Caitlin shrugged not really knowing why her teacher was making a big deal about it.

"Who's Perri?" Xander asked, he couldn't remember either Buffy or Caitlin mentioning her before, it could be one of Caitlin's ex's.

Caitlin focused her attention back onto Willow's hand, which the redhead took note of, she didn't answer Xander for awhile seeming distracted. Xander opened his mouth to talk to her again but Willow just shook her head at him, he had noticed she did that a lot more often since last week and wondered if she knew what was wrong with the youngest member of the gang. Willow lifted her hand and moved it over for Caitlin to take; the teen quickly snatched the hand up and started to fiddle with it "Erm Perri is my Cousin's kid, my second Cousin."

When Caitlin didn't offer anymore information up Xander just nodded and looked for a change in the subject. Not coming up with anything he just shrugged and went back to this vegetable puke lunch. "When is the award ceremony?" Willow asked softly, she was intrigued by the look of fascination on Caitlin's face. Caitlin was stretching a finger then feeling the bones and the moving on to the next finger.

"Sometime soon," the blonde shrugged. She didn't want the award, she didn't want the attention and some part of her didn't even want to tell her family. This would cause them to celebrate and she wasn't in the mood to celebrate, she hadn't been for a long time. Willow picked up on her mood and left it alone, just one more question to add to the list.

The group sat in silence, it wasn't an awkward silence, it was a comfortable. Xander watched Buffy talking to Owen. Willow watched Caitlin play with her hand, she wasn't sure why it fascinated the younger girl but she was glad she could help keep her calm. Caitlin continued to watch what she was doing, she was lost in her own little world and she enjoyed being there. The blonde looked up from her mindless playing to see that Willow was watching her "Does it bother you?" the question could have been considered for the simple act of playing with Willows hand. But the redhead knew it was a far more complex question that could have covered lots of different aspects of Caitlin.

Willow just shook her head gently and gave the blonde a reassuring smile "nothing about you bothers me Caitlin, I might not know everything about you but I doubt anything could." She watched as Caitlin processed her truthful words, finally she got an almost inconspicuous nod for her words.

~GU:CM~

Buffy and Willow dragged Caitlin down the corridor, the youngest of the group didn't want to be a part of the conversation. "It's not that big a deal, It's just a bunch of people getting together," Buffy insisted, if she acknowledged it was a big deal then it became a big deal.

Willow nodded enthusiastically "It's a very big deal!" this was Mr Sensitive, the quite and caring cute guy and he liked her friend.

Buffy shook her head half-heartedly "It's not!" It was so unlike her to be all shy about things like this but then she had never really cared about the guys she dated. When she was in LA it was all about the food chain and being at the top like she was, well she *had* to date the captain of a popular sport. She preferred basketball, less violence and less bulky muscles.

"It is," Willow nudged Caitlin; the youngest teen looked over to her redheaded friend, "tell her it is!" Willow tilted her head towards Buffy. She wanted back up and knew that Caitlin wanted her sister happy.

Caitlin zoned out remembering Buffy's last boyfriend with an angry frown on her face. Buffy and Willow both looked surprised that the simple sentence changed Caitlin's mood so drastically. The youngest blonde was caught up in her memories and failed to see the looks on her sister and friends face. She could still hear everything that had been said and could still fell everything that had been done; it haunted her everyday, all because Buffy's boyfriend had a big mouth. Caitlin shook violently trying to dislodge the memories "I don't think I'm the best one to ask," she replied to Willow. Caitlin looked at Buffy with a mixture of sadness and anger "If this one comes near me or Dawn, I hold the right to kill him."

"What do you mean this one?" Buffy asked as she caught up with what Caitlin had said. She didn't remember any of her previous boyfriends going anywhere near Dawn, she didn't bring them home and Caitlin always made sure that they were no where near Dawn.

The younger sisters shrugged and put her hands in her pockets, a defensive manoeuvre that was meant to look nonchalant "I misspoke." Caitlin shrugged as she looked at Buffy "What I meant was keep him away from Dawn or I'll kill him," she topped the threat off with a perky smile that didn't reach her eyes. She was very serious with her threat; no one touched or messed with her baby sister and got away with it.

Willow spotted Giles just ahead of them, knowing how to defuse the situation she quickly dragged the attention onto the Watcher "Tell her!" she didn't care that he didn't know she just didn't want a sibling fight on her hands.

Giles looked startled that Willow knew what he knew "I'm afraid it's very big," Giles said solemnly, he knew how much Buffy hated these things but it was her job to handle them.

"Thank you!" Willow said as she smiled at Buffy, until she realised that Giles wouldn't know what she was talking about because he hadn't heard her conversation with the sisters. She was confused "Wait!" she said with a small frown, he couldn't have known, could he? The other two teenagers were confused as well so they easily followed Giles into the library, they would have some privacy there because none of these teenagers ever really stepped foot in there. "What are you talking about?" Willow asked the watcher, she knew he couldn't have known because if he had he would have complained.

Giles frowned as he looked between the three girls "What are *you* talking about?" he asked. He thought it was a little strange that Willow knew what he was on about, a small part of him thought she was a spy, which he dismissed because she easily blabbed and blushed.

"Boys!" Willow and Buffy responded as if it were the most obvious thing in the word. Giles sighed, feeling annoyed at their hormonal thoughts. He was thinking about the end of the world and they were thinking about how cute boys were. Giles noticed the look of disinterest on Caitlin's face and smiled inwardly, she didn't seem to be interested in boys, so like him she must be interested in the vampire and the threat they possessed to them.

"Yes, well, I'm talking about trouble. A violent and disturbing prophecy is about to be fulfilled!" Giles exclaimed hoping to show how serious this matter was, Buffy seemed to take it more seriously and stepped closer to the Watcher. Caitlin stepped closer to Willow, the redhead grabbing her hand; she was going to stay out of this. She was feeling particularly pissed off right now.

Buffy nodded her head as she remembered what she had told Giles and showed him the symbol on the ring "The Order of Aurelius." Caitlin frowned as she hadn't heard her sister mention it until now, she realised how much her sister kept from her, it did annoy her but also she started to think that maybe she wasn't meant to be involved.

The redhead turned her attention from Slayer and Watcher and observed the younger teen standing next to her. The blonde was frowning but not asking questions, it wasn't unusual it just felt weird for Willow, she didn't like seeing that frown. Giles voice knocked Willow from her staring "You were spot-on about the connection," he walked over to the table where he had placed some books that he had been looking through "I've looked at the writings of Aurelius himself, and he, he prophesied that the brethren of his order would come to the Master and bring him the Anointed," Giles explained even though the girls were looking confused by his explanation.

Willow raised her hand a little, still shy of speaking up and having an audience watch her, Giles nodded to her "Who's that?" Willow asked and Buffy nodded. They had heard of the Master from Luke and Darla but they hadn't heard of any anointed ones before, but it didn't sound good for them.

Giles blushed gently because he had been unable to find out what or who the anointed one would be, he classed it as a failure on his part "Well, I-I don't know exactly, a-a-a-a warrior, but, but it says he will rise from the ashes of the Five on the evening of the thousandth day after the Advent of Septus," it was all he could find out about the anointed one and it confirmed the girls suspicions that it wasn't good for them. Damn.

"Well, we'll be ready whenever it is," Buffy nodded decisively. Caitlin found it quite funny that Buffy included all of them in her decision. Caitlin wouldn't be going with Buffy tonight and neither would Willow, they were babysitting Dawn and Xander had to do something for his mother.

Giles smiled at her enthusiasm "Which is tonight," He added. He was glad that they wouldn't argue over this and that Buffy was finally accepting her destiny as Slayer.

Buffy nodded decisively again, almost as if she was making herself be decisive instead of actually feeling it "Tonight, okay..." without speaking both Caitlin and Willow raised their hands showing that they had something to say. Buffy looked at them confused, wondering what they had to say, she saw the look on both of their faces, amused disbelief. Buffy scratched her arm absentmindedly before she realised her mistake "Not okay! It can't be tonight!" she had a conflict, she had a date tonight.

Giles looked shocked by Buffy's vehement disagreement "My calculations are precise," he responded with a touch of ice in his voice. He didn't like being told he was wrong, he was her Watcher and she had to listen to her. Caitlin raised a brow at his tone but said nothing to him, he was going to be very close to getting a few words from her.

"Nuh! They're bad calculations! Bad!" Buffy near on shouted at Giles. Giles opened his mouth to snap at Buffy but Caitlin cleared her throat quite pointedly, the Watcher shut his mouth. Willow's eyebrows shot up at the interaction, she knew Caitlin could snap at the smallest of things but the way Giles had acted was almost like he was afraid to incur the young teen's wrath. Buffy didn't notice in interaction because she was pouting and crossing her arms in protest.

Willow left Caitlin's side and stood beside Buffy "Buffy has a really important date," she informed Giles. She hoped it swayed Giles into letting Buffy go, she knew it was a slim chance but a chance none the less.

Buffy nodded "Owen!" she said the name as if it was the answer to all of their questions and worries. The last male that had been interested in her turned out to be an egotistical jock who wanted to sleep with her.

Giles rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration "Alright, I-I'll just jump in my time machine, go back to the twelfth century and ask the vampires to postpone their ancient prophecy for a few days while you take in dinner and a show," the Watcher said with heavy sarcasm showing everyone that he was beyond frustrated with the situation but not snapping at his Slayer.

"Okay, at this point you're abusing sarcasm," Buffy snapped at the Watcher. She couldn't believe the Slaying would always get in the way of her life

Caitlin jumped up and sat on the counter, her eyes a light with excitement "but how cool would it be if you could go back in time and change an event. You'd obviously have to keep in mind the repercussions of your actions but just to witness a prophecy being foretold would be awesome! And to change it by a single day would be out of this world!" Caitlin exclaimed as she bounced on the spot. Buffy gave a small smile at her sister's previously normal behaviour having missed her exuberance. Willow chuckled whilst placing her hand on Caitlin's hand to try and get her to calm down before she bounced herself off of the counter and possibly injured herself.

Used to the young teen's behaviour Giles just carried on talking to Buffy "Buffy, this is no ordinary vampire. But we have to stop him before he reaches the Master," it annoyed him that she was so offhanded when it came to serious threats. Caitlin huffed at being ignored but ultimately knew it was for the best because she could rant on for a while about how it could and could not be possible to travel through time.

Buffy looked very upset at what Giles was telling her "But... Cute guy! Teenager! Post-pubescent fantasies!" she ranted trying to get her point across. She knew that it was useless because he was a 40 year old male with Watcher training.

Giles shook his head; he was fed up with arguing with her "Those will just have to be put on hold! The dark forces are aligning against us, and we have a chance to beat them back. Tonight we go into battle!" Willow chuckled at his little speech, all he needed was to strike a pose and his superhero look and speech was done.

It was so something from the comics that even Caitlin cracked a smile. The blonde hopped off of the counter "and on that super lame finish…I shall make me leave," Caitlin imitated Giles accent and headed for the door. Buffy, who was still upset and angry, managed to smile at her sisters silly antics. The other blonde and redhead followed the younger blonde out of the room, neither Willow nor Buffy saying goodbye to Giles. The Watcher took off his glasses and started to clean them, he didn't like being the bad guy. At least tonight he would redeem himself with his Slayer.

~GU:CM~

"Buffy I'm not going to help you get a guy," Caitlin remarked before Buffy even opened her mouth. The younger blonde was lead on her bed, she was relaxing as she had done all of her homework after she had gotten back from dance. She had heard Buffy come in and heard her ranting to herself in her bedroom "I don't care that you want to date someone just don't involve me again, I especially won't take your place to try and fool Giles into thinking it's you so you can go on a date with Owen."

Buffy pouted at her sister's dismissal of her ideas she didn't get why her sister was so against her getting a boyfriend "what's up with you? Your acting like Owen is a bad guy," Buffy remarked as she leant against the door frame. Caitlin shot her eyes to Buffy but didn't respond "I know by last Beau was less than desirable to be around…" Buffy was cut off when Caitlin started to laugh. It wasn't the soothing sound it usually was, it was sarcastic almost evil. Caitlin met Buffy's eyes and the Slayer could have sworn she saw something flash in her sisters eyes, it wasn't an emotion it was almost like it was nothing, it was the only way she could explain it. It had vanished too quickly for her to get a good look.

Caitlin leapt up from her position on her bed and approached her sister quickly "not desirable? Not Desirable… Are you shitting me?" Caitlin yelled, Buffy jumped a little as she hadn't expected her sister to snap so completely "Your last beau was a nightmare Buffy. I never got a moments peace in school, he'd make sure I'd know that he could play you… what was it he called 'play her like a fine fiddle', and were where you on his arm every second you could. 'oh drake is just so like hot'. Then I told you I was gay and you went and told him! 'If you're a massive rug muncher how come you can date someone with a stick?'" Caitlin took a deep breath and looked in Buffy's wide shocked eyes "So no, I won't help you get with someone who will torture me. Your father did such a good job Buffy that I'm too broken to be able to care if you date again Buffy. I'm not going to help you with this Slayer stuff right now Buffy because I can't take it, last time I helped you look at what happened to me…I have something for you."

Buffy watched on in shock as Caitlin calmly went back to her bedside and picked up a picture and came back over and handed it to her face down. She accepted it but didn't turn it over "What's this?" she asked, she was fearful of what would be on the picture.

"The reason I'm broken," was Caitlin's response as she started to shut her bedroom door, she didn't want to see Buffy anymore. Buffy turned the picture over, it was of her sister and JD, and it had been taken early last year before everything had happened. Her sister was smiling brightly at the camera and JD had his arms wrapped around Caitlin and rested his head on hers. They were happy. Something Caitlin no longer was. Buffy put the picture in her pocket and headed to her room to get dressed and ready for her slay time and date.

~GU:CM~

The graveyard was dead, no pun intended, no one was rising from their grave, not even the birds were around. They had been sat there for at least an hour, neither of them had really spoken, well Buffy hadn't said a word and Giles had been telling her about vampires. They had been sitting in silence now for about 20 minutes they were both sitting on a large gravestone just waiting for

Giles sniffed trying to act nonchalant "Perhaps I miscalculated," he said trying to save face and not annoy Buffy

Buffy shot him a look "I'm thinking yes," she said as she carried on drinking from her still warm drink. She just knew tonight was going to be disastrous, especially after her talk with Caitlin, her heart wasn't in the game anyways. She was just worried Dawn had heard them and tried to force them to make up, it didn't work last time and she doubted it would work this time either.

"Well, you know what they say. Ninety percent of the vampire slaying game is, is waiting," Giles explained. It wasn't really he just needed the excuse, he didn't want an angry Slayer on his hands, especially one that had turned up quite calm and is still remaining calm, albeit sarcastic, he believed it was the calm before the storm.

Buffy sighed, as if she had suffered a great wrong, before she replied to him "You couldn't have told me that ninety percent ago?" she asked in a whiny tone. If she had time to waste waiting why couldn't she actually waste that time doing something else? Stupid Watchers and their stupid rules.

Giles blushed a little at the whined question, he hadn't meant to get it wrong. It had been pretty clear to work out, for him anyway "Well, we, we've certainly waited here long enough," he recovered and he got up from his position, slyly stretching. Them leaving was more for him than her, he wasn't as young as he once was.

Looking around Buffy noticed something that would have made the last hour of waiting end about an hour earlier "Besides, there aren't any fresh graves. Who's gonna rise?" Buffy asked her Watcher in the tone of voice that showed him she was pointing out what he should have noticed.

Said Watcher looked around and noticed it as well, he had missed it earlier on "Apparently no one tonight," he mumbled. With Slayer hearing Buffy heard his mumbled and huffed, Giles shrugged not knowing what else to say.

Huffing again Buffy jumped up "Then I can bail? I can go to the Bronze and find Owen?" the excitement was clear in her tone as well as her face. She really wanted to go and meet up with Owen; it wasn't nice to leave a date hanging after all.

Giles sighed in defeat; he didn't know why he even bothered with her "Oh, very well then. Follow your hormones if you want." Buffy smiled and hopped down from her perch and started to leave "But I assume I don't have to warn you about the hazards of becoming personally involved with someone who's unaware of your unique condition," Giles stressed to her but knew it was falling on deaf ears. This was why Watchers tried to get the Slayer away from their family so they could be shaped to not care about those types of things.

Buffy waved her hand flippantly as she walked away "Yeah, yeah, I read the back of the box." This was why she hated being the Slayer; she wanted her life to be able to be all about these types of things.

Shaking his head Giles retorted in a stern tone "If your identity as the Slayer is revealed it could put you and all those around you in grave danger," he could practically feel he eye roll she sent his way. Why oh why was her burdened with this Slayer?

Buffy looked at Giles over her shoulder and smiled "Well, in that case I won't wear my button that says, 'I'm a Slayer. Ask me how!'" she got a look from Giles but shrugged it off "Good night," she said firmly as she started to leave again.

Giles shook his head "'Five shall die, and from their ashes the Anointed shall rise.' I was sure it was tonight." he had gone over the calculations many times just to make sure he was right. someone was meant to rise from the grave tonight, but no one was around, alive or dead.

Buffy turned back around and approached her Watcher "If you made a huge mistake about someone you loved and it hurt them deeply... what would you do?" Buffy asked him in all seriousness. The Slayer really needed to know how to make things right with Caitlin; she didn't think Caitlin would be still holding it against her seeing as it had been about a year ago.

Giles blinked at the suddenness of her wanting his help, he assumed she was talking about Caitlin. He didn't pretend to know how teenaged girls operated but he knew about make huge mistakes well enough "You apologise," he responded in a soft tone.

The Slayer was glad he hadn't demeaned her or decided to be sarcastic "What if you've apologised?" she asked desperately. Buffy had apologised for telling her old friends about Caitlin being gay.

"Then you haven't apologised for that right thing," he offered her an awkward pat on the shoulder when his Slayer's face fell. She clearly didn't know what she had done wrong, nor did he actually, but he could tell it greatly weighted on her and if it was Caitlin then he knew it weighted on her too. Buffy sighed and nodded at Giles as she turned and shot off towards the bronze and her waiting date.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin lay on her bed; she had been in the same position since she had shut the door in Buffy's face. A small part of her felt guilty but she really didn't care about that small part of her. Buffy had ruined her happiness and she didn't even realise what had happened. It pissed her off. Caitlin barked out a sarcastic laugh, her perfect sister who could do no wrong, not until she had become the slayer anyways. The young blonde turned onto her side to face her bedside table, she curled up into a tight ball. Hank had always favoured Buffy and who could blame him, she was a burden in his eyes, oh how she wished her mother had gotten rid of the bastard when she was younger. The thought froze her body completely, without that son of a bitch Dawn wouldn't be around. Not the rat cared he was off banging his secretary not even an hour after Dawn had been born, but she loved her baby sister. Caitlin lifted her head and peered at one of the pictures on her bedside cabinet, it was a picture of her mother, Buffy and her father cradling her 3 month old self , only hours after he had been killed in that accident. His grey eyes were alight with happiness and his smile was wide but crooked, the same one she had inherited, his hair was a lighter shade of blonde than hers, but not by much, and was a scruffy spiked mess. He looked so happy to be holding her, her mother was leaning over his shoulder and sported a wide happy smile as well, her blue eyes were happy too. It all screamed happy family. She wanted her father to be there, to be Buffy and Dawn's father too. She stood up and picked up the picture, she loved the picture so much, it was everything she wanted but that also made her hate the picture, it dangled something she would never have right in front of her eyes. In a fit of anger she threw the picture towards the wall and felt a sense of satisfaction as the glass broke into a million pieces, then the upset hit her. How could she have destroyed it? Caitlin quickly scrambled onto her knees in front of the picture frame, ignoring the glass that was cutting into her knees and hands. She tried to pick up the pieces to fix the frame, ignoring the tears that she could feel dripping from her face and the glass that cut into her. She put the pieces she had picked up and placed them onto the picture, trying to make them fit. She stopped as she noticed the blood smearing over the picture, she was ruining it; she always ruined things because Hank had told her just as much almost everyday of her life. Caitlin clutched the broken picture frame to her chest and screamed out in anger and distress, she heard her bedroom door fly but she didn't stop what she was doing. She felt the hands prying the picture from her and a hand lifting her chin up. Her mother's worried blue eyes stared back at her, so different from the picture; they lacked the happiness and the realisation that she had caused it made Caitlin clench her eyes and collapse into herself. She could hear her mother's worried voice as well as Dawn's but she didn't understand the words, she was sobbing too hard to be able to focus on anything else. The sobs wracked her body and her breath became harder to grasp, she was falling, no one could help her now.

~GU:CM~

She could hear the sounds as soon as she reached the pathway to her house. She knew the sounds, she didn't hear it too often but she knew what it was, Dawn was crying, hysterically. All thoughts of Owen dancing with Cordelia fled from her mine. Buffy rushed down the pathway and nearly knocked the door off of its hinges. Dawn was sat at the bottom of the stairs, huddled up into herself "Dawnie!" Buffy quickly made her way over to Dawn and swooped her up into a tight hug "Dawn what's wrong?" she asked worriedly. Dawn just shook her head and buried her face into Buffy's chest. Buffy opened her mouth to ask again when she heard the other sounds in the house, Caitlin was crying and her mother was trying to get her to sit still, Caitlin obviously wasn't listening if the struggle indicated anything. Buffy hug Dawn a little tighter trying to sooth her, the eldest sister placed a kiss on her baby sister's head "Dawn I want you to do up to my room and put some music on okay?" she asked softly. Dawn shook her head and refused to move. Buffy knew Dawn wanted comforting but she needed to help their mother with Caitlin "I will come up as soon as Caitlin has settled; I want you not to have to witness this for both yours and Caitlin's sake. She's going to hate herself later Dawnie so please," Buffy begged. Dawn slowly brought herself out of Buffy's hold and walked up the stairs. The Slayer heard her door close and some music start up, she got up and walked into the kitchen but got no further than the threshold when she froze. She couldn't believe what she was seeing; her mother had smudges of blood on her clothing and on her skin and was holding some antiseptic and cloth. Caitlin had a lot more blood on her and Buffy could see it coming from her hands and her knees.

Caitlin shook her head as she saw Buffy enter the room slowly "j-just l-l-leave me alone!" she shouted as she backed into the wall. She didn't want them to be near her, she took happiness and ruined lives, she had been told so. Buffy caught her mother's eyes and nodded towards Caitlin, Joyce sighed but nodded. Buffy shot forward and grabbed Caitlin, restraining her so her mother could clean and bandage Caitlin's wounds. The middle sister didn't make it easy for them though "No let me go!" she shouted as she started the struggle, she tried kicking out but Buffy leant against the wall and wrapped her leg around Caitlin's to stop her from kicking out. It wasn't the first time they had to do this but it sure was the hardest. They spent a lot longer than they had planned on trying to get Caitlin clean and bandaged, "I hate you!" Caitlin screamed as she slammed her foot on Buffy's foot and Buffy let Caitlin go and watched as she bolted from the house. She didn't leave the backyard but she left their presence.

"What was that all about?" Buffy asked her mother. Joyce looked worn out, she looked at Buffy and the daughter noticed the tears in her mother's eyes, Buffy walked over and took her mother in a hug and held her even as she felt her mother start to collapse. She lowered them to the floor, she was surprised her mother even allowed her to see her tears; whatever Caitlin had done must have been bad. Buffy knew she wouldn't be getting her answers tonight.

~GU:CM~

Buffy slammed her locker shut, being careful not to use too much strength, she leant back against it. She had just told Xander what had happened the night before, when she saw Cordelia dancing with her date and her reaction to it. Leaving out what she found when she got home. The picture of Dawn huddled at the bottom of the stairs crying had scared her enough but to see Caitlin fighting against her mothers hold and getting bloody prints everywhere truly frightened her and afterwards, Buffy shuddered gaining a funny look from Xander. Buffy shook her head at him so he luckily dropped it.

"So you just went home?" Xander asked sounding a mixture of relieved and disbelieving. He wanted his friend to be happy obviously but he wasn't happy that it wasn't him making her happy.

Buffy looked at his as if he was talking crazy "What was I supposed to do? Say to Owen, 'Sorry I was late, I was sitting in a cemetery with the librarian waiting for a vampire to rise so I could prevent an evil prophecy from coming to pass?'" she asked heavy with sarcasm. Teenaged boys really didn't understand how teenaged girls worked, sure it was customary for them to be late but not over an hour late like she was.

Xander weighed options with his hands; he was trying to get across to her how boys actually worked. If I pretty girl was late and still paid them attention they really didn't care that they were late "Or flat tire?" he tried not to sound too pushy, which was strange he was trying to help her out but he didn't actually want her dating Owen.

Buffy shook her head and started walking "I can't take this anymore. I feel like everyone is staring at me, the big, hideous, dateless monster." She noticed a passing student glance at her and she snapped at him "What? Yeah, that's right, I have no life, c'mon, nothin' to see here, pal, move it along!" Buffy blinked as she realised she had acted like Caitlin would have on a bad day. That thought brought her mood down even more, her poor sister. Caitlin had reappeared early in the morning and locked herself in her room, she hadn't even come out for Dawn. They would have to phone Grams tonight.

"You're acting a little overly, aren't you? I mean, you could have any guy in school," Xander said sounding a little put off. Xander noticed that she was acting strange today, if he noticed then it must be bad, she could only blame what happened last night that had made her act like this.

Buffy shrugged trying to move on from her funny five minutes "He's not any guy. He's more... Oweny,"her voice held a dreamy quality to it as she was suddenly transported to spending time with Owen and bine gin his arms. Her mind was successfully now off of her sister and back on to

Xander copied her shrug trying to deflect his discomfort at her pining for Owen, the depressive poet "Sure, he's got a certain Owenosity, but that's not hard to find. I mean, a lotta guys read, I can read." He gave her a goofy smile, they reached his locker and he proceeded to put his combination in.

Buffy was leaning on the lockers looking down when she noticed Owen come up to her. She stood up straight and looked him in the eye, his gorgeous eyes that read gorgeous Poems and frames by his gorgeous hair. "Hey, Buffy!" Owen greeted looking a little nervous, he had waited for her to turn up and couldn't believe he had been stood up.

Buffy smiled a mixture of a sheepish and dreamy smile at him "Owen!" she really couldn't believe he was paying her any attention. Usualy the Jocks were all over her but then again she had been a cheerleader at the time, she was a sucker for muscles, especially if they came with a charming smile.

"Oh, look, it's Owen," Xander said under his breath but unfortunately it had been loud enough for Buffy to hear, and give him a pointed look "Buffy and Owen. And Xander that'd be me," he tried to save face with a large smile directed at them both.

Owen ignored Xander, which didn't earn him any points in the other males eyes " W-where were you last night?" he asked, once again nervous. Xander narrowed his eyes but luckily it went unnoticed. Willow had told him yesterday how Caitlin had snapped at Buffy about keeping her boyfriend's away from Caitlin and Dawn. Buffy clearly chose the wring types of boys. He felt protective over Caitlin and Dawn, who had yet to meet, so he was looking for strange occurrences.

Buffy didn't notice Xander, not that she would when a guy was around, Xander was just her friend "Oh, well, um, my watch broke and we don't have any clocks in our house and so I didn't know what time it was or even what day it was..." she trailed of as she began to realise just how lame and unbelievable that really was. Everyone had clocks or something in their houses to tell them the time or date.

Owen smiled at her little ramble, he found it funny she got so flustered, she seemed so cool and collected other times. "I thought I was the only one that happened to. How 'bout we try it again for tonight? I'll even lend you my watch," he pulled out the aforementioned item and he put it in her hands. It was a very old gold pocket watch. Xander looked at the watch in wide-eyed amazement that was a very expensive watch.

Buffy accepted the watch and smiled at his honest generosity and the fact she was being given another chance "Tonight? Y-you and me?" Xander looked at his Tweety wristwatch, he had used it for years and even remembered that Willow had given it to him for his 8th Birthday

"Well, we could invite the chess club, but they drink and they start fights..." Owen left it opened ended, he could tell she was nervous and he didn't want her to uncomfortable. It could be the reason she hadn't turned up last night, he had heard about her past so maybe she was nervous about him knowing. Yes that had to be it.

Buffy shook her head almost as soon as Owen had finished speaking "Oh, no, it's just... Well, I... sort of heard that... you and Cordelia were... somewhat... all over each other. A little..." she managed to not sound jealous or annoyed, points for her, but she did manage the unsure and insecure tone of voice, not so points for her. She was trying for laid back or nonchalant, this Caitlin thing was throwing her off more than she suspected.

Owen pulled a face of aversion, he really didn't want to remember about that, so maybe that's why she hadn't turned up, maybe Cordelia had scared her off or she had arrived and seen that. That was a blow 2I danced with her a couple of times. She's kinda grabby," he leant forward as if he was sharing a much guarded secret. He smiled when he saw Buffy's face light up

The Slayer smiled at those words, they were like music to her ears, Owen didn't really like Cordelia, Score! "Oh, well, let's see, if I rearrange that, and I push that to n..." Buffy tilted her head up and tapped her finger on her chin, acting like she was actually thinking about it, Owen waited with baited breath whilst Xander just rolled his eyes "Sure! tonight'll work!" Buffy nodded with a large smile.

Owen returned the smile "Great! I'll pick you up at seven?" he asked. It would be safer to pick her up, she couldn't not turn up that way, safest plan when dating. Plus if she didn't have a clock she would know it was time to go because he would be there, he just hoped she would be ready.

"Um, seven!" Buffy accepted, she hadn't smiled this long in a long time, her muscles were actually starting to hurt because she had become unaccustomed to it. She would have to train them back up, mirror muscle workout was back on.

Owen leant close to her and pointed to the face of his pocket watch "That's when the little hand's there," just in case and it never hurt to be helpful and point things out, especially to girls getting ready for dates, he heard they were notoriously late and he really didn't want the awkward standing with parents he had heard about.

Buffy kept up her story, even if they were both joking about it by now, well at least she was "Oh! Between the six and the eight," she stilled smiled; he was so sweet and cute trying to be all helpful.

"Um, I'll see you then!" Owen smiled one last smile before he turned and left Xander and Buffy. Xander shut his locker and couldn't help but notice how he had pretty much been ignored but Owen, he had expected any less from someone popular but he was Buffy's friend therefore deserved acknowledgement.

Buffy watched Owen walk away until she couldn't see him anymore "Tonight! Isn't that so?" she wasn't sure who she was asking or even what she was asking but she didn't care because she was on a pre-date high and hoped this time she could have a post-date high. It was Owen after all.

Xander focused his attention back onto Buffy "What?" he asked looking and sounding confused by her question. It wasn't even an complete question, it was so open ended it was stupid.

"Me and Owen!" she said dreamily as she too walked off, she was going to class but she knew she wasn't going to be paying attention.

"Yeah, so it is, It sure is so." Xander was feeling like someone had kicked his puppy. He'd never owned one but he imagined what this was what it felt like. Buffy's answer didn't make sense to his question but it had answered everything, Xander had no chance with the likes of Owen about. He was going to ask Caitlin about Buffy's previous boyfriends and hope she didn't flip her lid about it. Xander blinked when he thought that, he hadn't seen Caitlin today and Buffy hadn't mentioned her either. Where the hell was Caitlin?

~GU:CM~

Question answered, Caitlin was at home and apparently was feeling under the weather. Buffy had told them on the way back to her house when Willow had mentioned it, but the way Buffy had said it made them feel that Caitlin wasn't sick, at least in the sense that Buffy meant it. Willow knew Buffy was hinting to her Cyclothymia, she must have had a really bad episode if she missed school and had gotten Buffy so worried that she was covering for her. Xander didn't know what it was but he could sense the worry the two girls had for the youngest in their group. "Okay guys I don't know if Caitlin is feeling any better but I doubt you will see her today," Buffy commented, she opened the door and wordlessly invited them in.

They walked into the kitchen, Xander following the girls as he hadn't actually been in the house yet, he had met Joyce when picking Willow and Buffy up a few times but he hadn't yet met Dawn. Joyce was leant against the counter with the phone pressed to her ear as the teens walked in, she gave them a smile but didn't say anything "Yes mother I know," Joyce rolled her eyes and Buffy grinned. Buffy opened the fridge as the other two teens sat at the counter, she handed them some sodas and sat beside them as well and they all watched Joyce. "No mother I don't think that's a good idea...Caitlin won't want you all to stop what you are doing to come down here and make a fuss about her." Buffy raised an eyebrow at her mother's exasperation; they had obviously been at it for awhile "Mother please... No mother I'm putting my foot down now mother. Yes mother I'm sure and I will send them your love and I love you too." Joyce hung up a few seconds later, and chuckled "Grams says she loves you Buffy."

"Well I love her too but what was that all about?" she asked as she sipped her soda. She knew it was about Caitlin but she needed to know if her Grams and Cousins were going to come and visit, it would be so cool if they did because she wanted to show them the house and her friends.

Joyce walked over and put the phone back in its cradle "Mother wanted to come and visit and drag your Cousins along with her," she smiled at the two other teens "hello Willow, Xander good to see you again. Now I'm going to go and catch up on some work I missed today. Dawn will be back from Janice's in a few minutes so could you please help her with homework?" Joyce asked Buffy who nodded; the silent because Caitlin won't be around was obvious but still unspoken.

As soon as Joyce headed up the stairs Dawn walked in through the back door, she was humming to herself "Buffy!" she shouted and shot across the room to tackle her sister around the waist. Buffy chuckled at her sisters enthusiasm at seeing her, she loved that she was loved by her baby sister even after she had treated her like crap for the last few years. Buffy wrapped her arms around Dawn and gave her a tight squeeze, Dawn fought the hold and giggled as she escaped, she noticed Willow and squealed "Willow!" she dove at Willow and almost knocked the teen off of her chair causing others to laugh.

"I see how it is, I'm all well and good but as soon as something else comes along I'm knocked down to second place," Buffy joked. She liked that Dawn got on with Willow so well. Dawn nodded at Buffy's assessment and pulled back from Willow, she noticed Xander and froze. Buffy came over and wrapped an arm around her baby sisters shoulder. "Dawn this is Xander, Xander this is Dawn," she introduced them to each other.

Xander took Dawns hand and placed a small kiss on to it "greetings fair lady," he greeted Dawn, who blushed and hid behind Willow. "How about you go and get dressed Buff whilst we help the sis do the homework?" Xander asked and was met by braised eyebrows, he relented "okay why don't you take a shower whilst Willow helps Dawn do the homework and I might learn something too," he replied with a cheeky grin.

~GU:CM~

Buffy came into her room wearing her bathrobe, Willow was in Buffy's wardrobe she had decided to help Buffy decide on an outfit. The redhead was very much aware that Caitlin wasn't around, she would be going to see if the blonde would let her in her room after she helped Buffy. Willow pulled out a few outfits and put them on the bed "Pick!"

Buffy turned to Xander for his opinion "Okay," Willow held up two of the mini dresses, one in each hand. Buffy pointed to the first dress "do I wanna appear shy, coy and naive or" she pointed to the other dress "unrestrained, insatiable and aggressive?"

Xander, who was watching from the top of the bed, shook his head "Uh, y'know, Owen is a little home spun, he probably doesn't like that overly assertive look." He quickly got up and approached the wardrobe "Oh, hey, here's something. A nice comfy overcoat and a ski cap!" he pulled them out and held them up with a hopeful look on his face, when he saw the look of disbelief on Buffy's face her tried to get her to do it by using a weakness of hers, fashion "The earflaps will bring out your eyes!"

Buffy and Willow exchanged a look before they turned to face the bed again "Maybe I should mix and match." Willow nodded to Buffy's suggestion, she would personally know as she had never been on a date. "Okay, guy's opinion," she said as she grabbed two lipsticks from her desk and held them up to Xander who was still stood by the wardrobe "Which one do you think Owen will like better? The red or the peach?" she held them up to Xander and waved them a little. Xander may only be her friend but he was still a guy and his opinion mattered, in this topic.

Xander nodded a little shakily, he doubted he was going to win this round but he was going to try or his name was not Alexander La "Oh, you mean for kissing you and then telling all his friends how easy you are so the whole school loses respect for you and then talks behind your back? The red's fine."

Buffy nodded as if she had seriously considered what he had said "Thanks. I'll go with the peach," she responded as if he had suggested it, she started to put on the lipstick.

Willow went back to the wardrobe and search through it again, right at the back she found a pretty dress, she took it out and walked over to Buffy "Here, put this on," Buffy finished putting on her lipstick before she took the dress from Willow; she held it up and smiled.

Xander was looking at both girls when they both turned to look at him, he looked confused for a second before it registered "You're not bothering me!" he said with a sweet smile, like it would work.

Willow walked over to him and turned him around so he was facing the back wall and pushed him slightly. Buffy started to get changed by her wardrobe "So, where's he taking you?" she asked as she sat on the edge of Buffy's bed, being careful not to disturb the bed too much.

Buffy untied the bathrobe and dropped it to the floor "Oh, I don't know. Where do you suppose young kids go on dates these days?" she asked Willow. She wasn't sure where they would be going, she didn't really know the town very well she had only lived there for a little while. Xander went over to her chest of drawers and noticed the mirror on the jewellery box, he bit his nail thinking if he should try and peep at her with it. Xander started to angle the mirror inside of the jewellery box so he can see Buffy getting changed.

"Well, I read somewhere once that sometimes they go to movies," Willow helpful suggested. She had also seen it in movies and heard it around school but had never actually gone on a date with any guy before.

Chuckling, Buffy pulled the dress on, it was cute that Willow hadn't had a date, she suspected before the end of the year Willow would have a date with her sister. She dated Willow would ask but she hoped Caitlin would, they would so make a cute couple. Buffy fixed her hair as she turned around to look at Willow "Movies! Interesting!" she commented, she wouldn't mind seeing a movie because it mean dark room with Owen and that could lead to kissing.

Willow nodded liking that she was being helpful, so she gave a shy smile and bounced a little excitedly "And I saw on TV once, a bunch of people our age went to a party," Willow noticed the wary smile on Buffy's face, it wasn't a real smile anymore. Something must have happened at a party but she didn't take her words back.

"Wow! I never knew being a teenager was so full of possibilities!" Buffy started to pull on the finishing touch to her outfit, her boots. The boots made her outfit look very good and finished it perfectly. Xander fumbled with the box trying to get it back into the proper place, it clanged loudly forcing Buffy and Willow to look over at him. The teenage boy grinned sheepishly trying to act innocent.

Before anything else could happen or before they could say anything the door bell rang causing Buffy to jump up excitedly. "That's Owen!" her excited voice matched her excited jumping, she rushed to her door and threw it open. Buffy ran down the stairs, she didn't notice Caitlin's door closing as she rushed past it. Xander didn't notice as his thoughts were too engrossed by Buffy's upcoming date. Willow noticed but followed the other two down; she didn't want to draw attention to Caitlin. Buffy landed by the front door and smiled as she opened it but frowned in confusion as she saw who it was "That's Giles." Xander stood beside Buffy as she stood by the door still, Willow stood by the living room entrance and smiled at Dawn as she came over and settled against her, the redhead wrapped her arm around Dawn's shoulder.

Giles was glad it was Buffy who answered the door, it would have been awkward if it had been her mother or youngest sister "We need to talk," he sounded urgent and Xander couldn't suppress the smile that had shown on his face.

Buffy frowned even more "Buffy's not home," she said as she tried to shut the door so she didn't have to deal with him.

The Watcher pushed the door open and came in, Dawn frowned at the strange man coming in her home but was pacified a little by Willow starting to play with her hair and also the fact he hadn't needed an invitation to come in "My calculations may not have been as far off as I thought," Giles held up a newspaper. Buffy raised a brow but did nothing, Dawn moved away from Willow to see what they were talking about.

Giles watched the young girl come over and froze, he hadn't noticed her before "Five Die in Van Accident'?" Dawn read out loud. Dawn looked up at Giles "are all British people so morbid?" she asked. The question caused the others to chuckle; Willow came forward and brought Dawn back over to the living room entrance but didn't tell her to go which the pre-teen was thankful for.

"Out of the ashes of five shall rise the one, that's the prophecy. Five people have died!" The Watcher ignored Dawn, who frowned at being ignored, and continued to speak to Buffy. He pretty much ignored Willow and Xander as well.

Buffy's face fell from laughing and back into its frown and raised brow "In a car crash," everyone could hear the scepticism in her voice, how could an anointed one, who is meant to be oh so powerful, die in a car crash.

Giles nervously wrung the newspaper and started to tell Buffy about what he had read "I know it doesn't quite follow, but, but it's worth investigating. Look! Among the dead was Andrew Borba, whom the police sought for questioning in a double murder. Now, he may be the Anointed One. The, the bodies have been taken to, to Sunnydale Funeral Home, w-we can..."

Buffy hadn't been taken in a word he had said, only that he had been speaking about Slaying, she decided to interrupt him "Giles, why do you wanna hurt me?" Buffy asked sounding annoyed.

Dawn tensed up at those words, Willow noticed and pulled the young girl into a hug, she rested her head on top of Dawns and wrapped her arms around Dawn's waist. "I beg your pardon?" Giles asked as he ignored the movement out the corner of his eye but stored it away for later.

Before Buffy could respond Owen appeared at the open door "Hey!" Owen came in the house and everyone instinctively relaxed knowing he wasn't a vampire, even though they had seen him hours earlier at school, in broad daylight "Uh, hi!"

Giles turned back to Buffy in disbelief; she was still going to go on a date even though she was the Slayer. Why was he burdened with her again? He wondered silently "You have a date?" he asked.

Buffy nodded and tried to usher him out of the door but he refused to budge "Yes, but I will return those overdue books by tomorrow," she tried covering up why the school librarian was in her house. Owen was a little dense seeing as he sort of believed about not having clocks in the house and her watch breaking.

Giles tore his arm away from Buffy's grasp and pointed the rolled up paper at her "Wait, you're not getting off that easily," he was fed up of her skirting her responsibilities to do regular teenage things, like cheerleading or dating, she was the bloody Slayer she shouldn't be doing things like that, she should be out patrolling the night for vampires and other demons.

Owen looked on in shock, he hadn't heard the Mr Giles talk like that to anyone or even seen him after school, or much during school for that matter "Man, you really care about your work!" he made a mental note to make sure to return his book on time, it was embarrassing for him to turn up at his house.

Willow let go of Dawn but grabbed her hand, she needed to think quickly "Uh, Owen?" she asked and started to blush when he turned his attention to her, her brain completely froze. She couldn't think of anything to get Owen out of the room

Xander noticed what Willow was doing so quickly stepped in to help, he might not want Buffy to date Owen but he didn't want her getting hurt "Yeah, a couple of things about tonight." Willow and Xander lead Owen into the living room, Dawn following, wanting to know what they were going to say. They all stood in the room, the three of them looking at Owen, who fidgeted under their gazes, no one said anything but Dawn smirked at a sudden thought "didja know that my sister hates dancing?" she asked innocently with a tilt of her head. Willow nudged Dawn gently and had to repress a smile

Owen down at the little girl in shock, she was clearly telling the truth because the other two nodded "What, she doesn't like to dance?" he asked in shock, why hadn't he been told this before or how could he not have asked, he could swear he had see Buffy in the Bronze before. He could actually remember seeing her in the Bronze the week before, she had been sat with her friends and her sister had been dancing, he had never seen Buffy dance now he thought about it.

Xander nodded trying to act solemnly, as if the fact that Owen couldn't dance with Buffy actually hurt him, Dawn giggled silently and buried her head in Willows side to hide her grin. "Well, it's a little too late to do anything about that. Uh, you should probably know that Buffy doesn't like to be kissed. Actually she doesn't like to be touched," that was actually Caitlin who didn't like to be touched but Owen never needed to know that.

Willow chocked back her laugh at his solemn act "Xander..." her tone was meant to be reprimanding and she managed to pass it off as Owen's eyes widened as if Xander had given him some secret information

"As a matter of fact, don't even look at her," Xander said under his breathe trying to finish his rant, Dawn looked at him from behind Willow and Xander winked at her. Dawn grinned widely at being included; it had never happened with her sisters friends before. Buffy's old friends had been stuck up and had belittled her when she had walked past them with Caitlin once at the mall and Caitlin's old friends were far from socially acceptable as most of them were depressives and skaters that mostly drank and smoked. Her only decent friends were JD and a few of the ones she normally hung with.

"Thanks guys, it's nice to know Buffy has such good friends and I won't say you told me any of this" Owen said as he headed back to the foyer. Dawn started giggling as she couldn't believe he had actually listened to them. They three of them waited in the front room until they heard Owen and Buffy leave before they walked back into the foyer.

"Is something going on?" Willow asked Giles as she stopped to stand by the Watcher, he seemed frustrated and defeated, she felt sorry for him.

"Oh, uh, probably not, no. I, uh, I suppose I'll just, uh, go to the funeral home in case, just see if anything comes up," Giles stuttered out as he quickly left.

Willow turned to Xander, she noticed he didn't seem to bothered by Giles departure as she was trying to mess with Dawn's hair and she was batting his hand away "This is bad," Willow said. She was concerned for Giles; he wasn't a Slayer and wouldn't get very far against the anointed one.

"I wish it was just bad," he nodded absently as he still tried to ruffle Dawn's hair. He hadn't really hung out with anyone younger than him before and found it fun trying to annoy her, not in a serious way as he was being playful.

Willow looked away from the scene and looked at where Giles had just left she frowned in thought before smiling "We should... go along," she was a little hesitant but she thought it was a good idea

Xander perked up at the thought of interrupting Buffy's date, well not interrupting but spying, yes spying was a better word for it "Yeah, you're right. I don't trust that Owen guy. It's the eyes. Crazy!" he was just trying to convince himself as both of the girls gave him a pointed look

"Xander, we should go with Giles! He could get in trouble!" Willow gestured wildly, mostly in the direction Giles had just left. Buffy wouldn't forgive herself if Giles died and Willow knew Caitlin leant heavily on Buffy and so Buffy needed to be strong

Xander scrunched up his face in thought, that didn't sound fun at all "Oh, he's gone, uh, it's, he's gonna be alright. He's like super librarian, y'know? Everyone forgets, Willow, that knowledge is the ultimate weapon," Xander would rather go and spy on Buffy and Owen so he could make sure the brooding poet didn't get too fresh with their Slayer.

Willow shook her head and grabbed Xander's arm "we are going after Giles!" she tugged him to the door before turning back to Dawn "lock the door behind us and tell your mother we have gone. I was going to check on Caitlin but I'll be a bit bust now, if she comes out give her a hug for me okay?" Willow asked as she quickly hugged Dawn. Dawn nodded and waved to Xander as he was dragged from the house; once the door was shut Dawn locked it and made her way upstairs to tell her mother and then take a shower.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin walked down the stairs carrying a small bag which she had put some clothes in, she left a note for her mother, who was in her room doing work, and a note for Dawn, who was sleeping, explaining where she was. She hadn't left Buffy a note but she had told her mother to tell Buffy why, she knew if she wrote Buffy a note it would be a harsh note with words she would regret. Caitlin watched as the Cab pulled up to the house, she was leaving for the weekend, she needed to get away and there was only one place in the world where she felt safe. She was going home, back to San Francisco.

* * *

><p><strong>Hello Everyone, sorry this chapter so long to get posted but I have only just finished it.<br>I don't really like the episode so it has been a real task to write it...I also know that there isn't much of the real episode on it but as stated I don't like the episode so I decided to show some more of Caitlin's past/condition. Hope you enjoy ! **

**\Silver-Eternal-Dragon/**


	6. Chapter 6

The Pack

The front door open gradually, she wasn't trying to sneak in but she didn't want any attention on herself either. She was feeling better after her nice weekend at the Manor, she had little to no stress and she was back to her normal albeit slightly unstable self. Joyce had heard the door opening so she had come to investigate; it was funny watching her daughter trying to sneak in. Joyce had panicked when she hadn't been able to find her daughter, she had feared the worst at first but then she had found the note Caitlin had left. She had gone home. It wasn't a surprise that Caitlin referred to the Manor as home, Caitlin had been happiest there after all. Joyce snuck up behind Caitlin, she smirked as her middle child was none the wiser to her presence, which was unusual but she liked how relaxed she looked. The mother of three wrapped her arms around her daughter's waist and brought her backwards to rest against her chest "Welcome back sweetheart," Joyce whispered.

Caitlin smiled as she felt her mother place a kiss on her head "Thank you mom," she whispered back. They stood there for a little while before Caitlin broke from the hug and made her way upstairs.

Joyce watched her go, she knew Caitlin was never going to be herself again and she was very worried for her. She had never seen Caitlin breakdown like she had last week, her mother had told her she had seen it when the girls had been staying with her and her nieces. She rubbed a hand down her face and then made sure the door was locked before going to bed. She cursed her ex-husband and the fates for what they had done to her Family's lives.

Buffy had settled down for the night but she hadn't fallen asleep, she had heard her sister and mother go to bed. She had wanted to greet her younger sister but she didn't, she assumed she was the reason why Caitlin had another breakdown. Buffy always knew that Caitlin had a fragile mind but she always encouraged her to help with the supernatural. Tomorrow was going to be a bit of a relaxing day as they were going to the Zoo, Caitlin liked the Zoo and her sister was going in with a teacher so she didn't have to put up with her class mates.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin stepped out of the car, despite riding in the car with a teacher it hadn't be awkward, maybe it was because of who the teacher was. The teacher was a young female that hadn't been at the school for long but she was good. Miss Jenny Calendar was teaching the IT lessons, Willow and Caitlin were her favourite students by far, so she didn't mind bringing Caitlin with her. The Principle had asked her last week if she wouldn't mind taking Caitlin to the Zoo with her in the car, she didn't understand why and when told all Flutie said was 'we have to' and that was that. The Librarian had looked like he wanted to say something but kept quiet, there was something about her favourite student but she wouldn't push. Jenny locked the car and made her way to stand beside Caitlin "Now all we have to do is wait for the bus," Caitlin nodded her head and leant against the car door.

Caitlin could see Jenny looking at her out of the corner of her eye, funnily it didn't bother her, she knew what her teacher was thinking. She would be the same if she were in Jenny's position; it wasn't common for a student to get a lift with a teacher when there were spaces on the bus. "You can ask you know," Caitlin said softly as she carried on looking away from Jenny. Jenny jumped at the sound of Caitlin's voice, she hadn't expected her to talk, she noticed Caitlin was usually quiet unless she was with her sister and friends. The young blonde snorted lightly as she turned to face her teacher "is it so unusual to her me talk it startled you?" Caitlin asked.

"Not really, I just noticed you were a little less talkative today than usual," Jenny said jokingly as they both knew she was the talkative type, Caitlin gave a crocked smile. Jenny stopped for a moment, she had never seen Caitlin give a crocked smile before, this must be her proper smile. The teacher nudged Caitlin "I was just wondering why you weren't on the bus with your sister and friends."

Nudging back "Apart from most of them being utter idiots you mean?" she asked with a grin. Jenny chuckled and nodded, she couldn't deny Caitlin's question. Caitlin shrugged; she stood up from her leaning position and put her hands in her pockets "I have Cyclothymia," she told her favourite teacher. Jenny tried to figure out what that was, Caitlin caught the confusion that was in her teachers eyes "it's Bi-polar, being in a bus with those idiots would make me very cranky."

The bus rounded the corner and pulled into the car park. Jenny left Caitlin to go and get the students calm and in line so they could get in. Willow strolled over to Caitlin and stood beside her, she didn't say anything, and the two were comfortable with silences. They had got used to it whilst they did their homework together, Willow refused to talk until her homework was done and Caitlin was okay with that. They had started to hang out a bit more since Caitlin had confessed to what her problem was, Willow considered Caitlin a close friend, maybe even her best friend. Soon the silence was broken as Xander and Buffy joined them, arguing over what to see first. When Jenny came back over to get them she suggested seeing separate things and meeting up afterwards, the argument was ended at that and the two agreed. Jenny raised her eyebrow at Catlin and Willow as if to ask them why they hadn't intervened; the teenaged girls just smirked and shrugged.

~GU:CM~

The gang had split up a while ago but they were going to meet by the elephants, Willow and Caitlin had gone to see the Lions, one of Caitlin's weak spot. She noticed Willow had been sticking to Caitlin, she was glad Caitlin had a best friend and she was glad they had best friends in common because it meant she knew who Caitlin was hanging with and that they were good people. It was just strange for her to see her sister hanging out with another female; most of Caitlin's friends were male before. Buffy was brought out of her thoughts by a voice in front of her "Oh, look. It's Buffy and all her friends," a class mate of Buffy's called Kyle taunted her.

Buffy rolled her eyes at the lame taunt "That's a witty," she snarked back without really rising to the bait. Kyle, Tor, Rhonda and Heidi were the class bullies; they weren't like the jocks or the popular kids. They did whatever they felt like and to whoever they felt like.

"Do you ever wonder why nobody cool wants to hang out with you?" Tor asked with a tilt of them head. They all knew what Buffy had done at her last school; it wasn't a surprise to anyone that she really didn't have friends, everyone stayed away from her fearing she was an arsonist.

"Just thankful," Buffy responded honestly. The eldest Summers child liked not being as popular as she had been, she could be have more time for her family this way and she didn't have to be someone she wasn't.

Rhonda tilted her head in wonder as she started at Buffy "Were you this popular at your old school? Before you got kicked out?" she asked snidely. Buffy just looked at them, not openly reacting to their barbs. The group laughed and they continued on their way as they noticed that she wasn't falling for their taunts,

Tor spoke one last thing over his shoulder as they left "Careful! She might beat you up!" he chuckled with the others. Buffy just shook her head at their attempts.

The Slayer made her way over to the elephant exhibition; she might as well have a look at them whilst she waited for the others. Buffy was reading the plaque when Xander, Willow and Caitlin ran up to her.

Xander spoke as soon as he stopped by Buffy "Hey! Buffy!" he greeted. He hadn't seen her in an hour as he had gone off to see the Crocodiles when Willow and Caitlin went to see the Lions. He had met up with them as they approached the Zebra area.

"You missed it!" Willow excitedly bounced on the spot as she stopped beside Xander. Caitlin stopped beside her sister and chuckled at the guys' enthusiasm, it was funny how immature they still were. She had to admit there was something amusing about what they had just seen.

Buffy had to resist from glancing at Caitlin, she was known for doing things that annoyed people but amused her friends; she didn't want to piss off Caitlin especially as she had just come back from Grams' House. "Missed what?" she asked with slight confusion and a little enthusiasm.

"We just saw the zebras mating!" he turned to Willow who mentioned going over to the Zebra's it had been a fun experience even if it was only to laugh at the humping Zebras "Thank you, very exciting..."

Willow nodded as she finished bouncing "It was like the Heimlich, with stripes!" she chuckled and the others chuckled along as well.

"And I missed it," Buffy commented with mock disappointment, she wiped a fake tear away "Yet somehow I'll find the courage to live on," she grinned as she started walking, she didn't know where she was going but she didn't just want to stand around, Flutie was on the Prowl.

Caitlin pulled a face as she took her sisters hand in her own, surprising her older sister "It was actually more like Rasputin trying to get frisky with Gram's foot stool," Caitlin explained and Buffy burst out laughing as she remembered the scene Caitlin had just said.

"Now I really am sorry I missed it," Buffy said as she wiped the tear from her eye. Rasputin trying to hump Gram's favourite foot stool had been funny but Gram's chasing the dog around after he had done was even funnier. Willow and Xander looked at each other, they enjoyed seeing Buffy and Caitlin get one, and they didn't have their own siblings so it was nice to see what siblings could be like. Buffy caught the look and just smiled at them, they returned the smile because Buffy had been down since the incident last week, Caitlin had gone to San Francisco.

Willow stepped to Caitlin's side and their hands brushed together, Willow blush and Caitlin gave her a crocked smile. Buffy caught the exchanged and smiled inwardly, it was cute seeing Willow and Caitlin together. "Where were you?" Willow asked as she pulled away from Caitlin a little bit, she noticed didn't seem too bothered by their closeness but it made her feel a little funny, Caitlin gave her another smile before turning her attention to Buffy. Xander walked beside Buffy, none the wiser, though it didn't surprise Buffy as he was a male and clearly was a little dense about feelings and other things of that sort.

Buffy looked down at the map in her spare hand trying to see where she was going to go next "I was looking at the fishes," she responded without the enthusiasm that the other three had shown. She had been to the Zoo so many times before that it had lost all appeal; she wondered how Prue and Piper still managed to fake enthusiasm. She had to admit that when she went with Perri and the others it had been fun because the child had loved every second of it.

Willow smiled, she enjoyed fish "Was it cool?" she hadn't been to see the fish in years, she had her own fish at home.

"It was fishes," Buffy responded pulling a face. All they did was swim around, they did nothing interesting, they did have petty colours that went well together but she'd never be able to pull them off. Buffy blinked at her internal thought, she must have spent way too much time staring at Fish if she was trying to use fashion with them.

Xander squinted at her before shaking his head and held his hands to his heart "I'm feelin' that you're not in the field trip spirit here," and how dare she, it was the best time of the year. Being in School time and yet not doing school work, they even got to see cool animals, how she found it boring was beyond his understanding. He shook his head again.

"Well, it would... It's nothing, I... We do the same zoo trip at my old school every year. Same old, same old… Caitlin was the only one who liked looking at the animals, especially her wolves," Buffy commented with a smirk at her sister. It was true, Caitlin loved going to the Zoo and she loved explaining to Dawn and Perri about what she knew about the animals, Caitlin was got fascinated by the wolves, she could spend hours watching them. It was actually the reason Piper had gotten her the Wolf teddy bear Caitlin had named Blizzard.

The male in the group shook his head in disbelief; he couldn't believe she didn't see the fine print in the school trips "Buffy, this isn't just about looking at a bunch of animals. This is about not being in class!"

Buffy looked away from the map to look at Xander, he was right, they were away from school and had the possibility of being fun. Sure Buffy didn't really get in to the whole zoo spirit her sister and Willow were clearly in but she could enjoy missing school at least. "You know, you're right! Suddenly the animals look shiny and new," Buffy nodded and brought the map back up with a smile

"Gotta have perspective," Xander commented as he looked over Buffy's shoulder and the two started to argue again. Buffy wanted to see the Rhinos and Xander wanted to go and see the Monkeys, they had always made him laugh and he wanted a good laugh.

Willow shook her head the two of them were going to be arguing all day she knew it; they gradually came to a stop just outside of the jaguar habitat. Caitlin walked over to the plaque to read about them, she knew the basic details of the Jaguars but she could never know too much. Willow watched her and decided to join Caitlin; it was better than standing around and waiting for one of the others to win the argumen

Xander whooped as he won the argument, he liked winning and the fact he got to see monkeys made it all the sweeter "Hey you two let's get going, the monkey kingdom awaits," he said as he started to head towards the monkey enclosure. Buffy shook her head as she followed after him, she had let him win because the monkey enclosure was right next to the new rare wolves' habitat; Caitlin would want to see them.

"They await their leader and he is on his way," Caitlin said with a huge grin. Willow, as well as Buffy who was a little further ahead, laughed out loud at Caitlin's comment. Xander glanced over his shoulder when he heard them laughing but couldn't even begin to think of what they were laughing at, shrugging he continued one his way with a bounce in his step.

Buffy slowed down slightly so her sister and friend could catch up, when they were beside her she threw an arm over her sisters shoulder "now that wasn't very nice...was funny but not nice," she admonished half-heartedly but it wasn't very effective because she had a little grin on her lips and a twinkle in her eyes. Caitlin just shrugged and continued to smile; she was in a good mood.

The three girls caught up to the waiting Xander and they made their way over to the monkeys. As they arrived they noticed Kyle's gang dragging another class mate, Lance, into a closed off area. Buffy noticed it was the new Wolf Cave; she was disappointed that Caitlin wouldn't get to check it out. "What are Kyle and his buds doing with Lance?" Willow asked as they approached the wolves Cave.

"Oh, playing with him as a cat plays with a mouse."

"I think they planned to feed him to the dogs...literally," Caitlin added after Xander. She really hated those stupid bullies, they had learnt early on to leave her alone and the others when she was around. She had snapped and hit Kyle in the face, it had been satisfying and the egotistical prat and his little click had kept their mouths shut because their 'leader' had been hit and knocked over by a girl two years their younger.

Buffy shook her head in annoyance at those guys, she almost wished those idiots were demons so she could give them a smack down Slayer style "What is it with those guys?" she asked looking at Willow and Xander, they hadn't known them longer

"They're obnoxious. Professionally," Willow commented as she fiddled with her hands in worry, she wasn't a friend on Lance's but that didn't mean she wanted him to get beaten up or eaten by wolves.

Xander nodded sagely "Well, every school has 'em. So, you start a new school, you get your desks, some blackboards and some mean kids," he sounded almost apologetic. Caitlin turned to look at Buffy with a pointed look, yes she was proud of her sister but she wouldn't forget the past as easily has her sister pretended too.

Ignoring her sisters pointed look Buffy responded to Xander "Yeah, well, I'd better extract Lance before..." she hated that her day off had been interrupted by those idiots. She didn't mind the fact that she had to save Lance, it was just going to make not hitting Kyle's gang that much harder.

Caitlin ducked under the tape and smiled "I'll sort those idiots out, I have no qualms with hitting them," she smiled, today was a good day for her. She did want to save Lance but she also wanted to see these wolves, they had been presumes extinct for thousands of years but the year before last adventurers has been down in Mexico and had discovered some ancient Aztec ruins and found a few Aztecan Wolf pups. She was gutted when she read they were still in quarantine, but she would have come back to see them but this was so much better.

Xander climbed under as well "We'll handle it. This job doesn't require actual slaying," Caitlin chuckled at Xander's words, she suspected had thought about doing some beating and this way she could do it instead. Xander held his arm out and bowed slightly to allow Caitlin to go first, the two ran off into the Cave.

The two left behind looked at each other, "You don't think we should follow?" Buffy asked sounding very unsure, it wasn't the fact that her sister and Xander couldn't take care of themselves it was just the wolves were out of bounds and who knows what Kyle and the others would do in there. She didn't even know if they had a proper environment set up yet.

Willow shook her head but did not look convinced and matched Buffy in being unsure "Kyle and those guys are jerks, but they're all talk. Mostly," Willow sounded as if she was trying to convince the both of them. Buffy looked at the Cave and then at Willow. Willow looked at Buffy and then at the Cave.

"Why don't we..." Buffy pointed towards the Cave slightly as she reconsidered not going in after them.

Nodding Willow responded "Yeah, why don't we?" she gestured towards the Cave as well. They both started to go but before they got too far something caught their attention.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin and Xander entered the Wolf Cave and immediately heard Lance asking them to stop. It was obvious that Lance and the others were actually going to try and fed him to the wolves. As they got closer they saw Kyle and Tor pressing Lance against the bars and appeared to be trying to lift him over "Ow! Stop it! It's not funny!" Xander and Caitlin approached quickly, Xander pulled Tor's arms away from Lance whilst Caitlin was a little less subtle as she threw a punch at Kyle's jaw. Kyle hit the bars and fell to the ground

Xander pushed Tor towards the girls and then stepped over to Caitlin and put a hand on her arm, it was a subconscious act but Caitlin stepped no closer to Kyle "Why don't you pick on somebody your own species?"

"What, are *you* gonna get in my face?" Kyle asked as he got to his feet and started to approach Xander. Tor came up from behind but stopped as Kyle shook his head, he needed to get some of his dignity back and if that meant beating Harris then he would have to do it.

Caitlin scowled and got right in Kyle's face "No that would be me, I don't like you and if I have to I will beat you down to prove you shouldn't piss me off," She really hated bullies and her disorder was starting to make her get angry at them, she would normally only feel annoyance.

The Wolves had been watching the exchange and until the last two had shown up they felt nothing towards these humans, but now it was getting interesting. The wolves exchanged looks, the biggest Wolf was black with gold highlights every so often along the hide, another Wolf was silver with white paws and the last was golden with a black muzzle, they growled to catch the humans attention. Xander and Caitlin were the first to look and Kyle and the others followed their lead. The black Wolfs eyes flashed gold, Xander's and Caitlin's eyes flashed seconds later. The gold Wolf's eyes flashed and then Kyle's and Tor's eyes flashed and then finally the grey Wolf's eyes flashed and Heidi's and Rhonda's eyes flashed. Caitlin blinked but continued to stare at the Wolf, there was something about the Wolf that made her want to jump over the railings and show the Wolf it's place, Kyle jerked in her hold and she growled, Kyle stilled at the warning.

Lance tried to make an anxious move to get away, he appreciated Xander and Caitlin saving him but all of them were starting to act strange. As Lance turned to run he tripped on a chair and fell over his notebook skidded across the floor to the far wall. Kyle and his little gang turned towards Lance and grinned, or that's what Lance thought until he swore he heard them growling, they were baring their teeth. Xander turned as Lance fled, he growled at the others and they quietened. Caitlin continued to stare into the Wolf's eyes, they flashed briefly and the Wolf bowed its head, Caitlin nodded and turned to the others, with a snarl she left the Cave.

~GU:CM~

Buffy stood waiting for her sister and Xander to come out with Lance. She turned as she heard hurried footsteps, Lance was running their way, "Lance where Caitlin and Xander?" she asked the male as he got closer.

Lance made no effort to slow down and just gestured behind him "They are in there with Kyle and his little lapdogs," he said as he rushed passed them, there was no way he was going to tell them what he had heard from those guys. They would probably think he was mental.

"What's his deal?" Buffy asked Willow as they watched Lance disappear. Some part of her started to worry that something bad had happened but she suppressed that and tried to think positive. Lance would have gotten help if they needed it.

Willow turned to face the Cave and then back at Buffy "I'm sure it was just that he was scared, who knows what he has seen, that zoo keeper told us they were in quarantine," Willow nodded with her words to show she was positive they were alright.

Xander came strolling out; he inhaled deeply and noticed that Buffy smelled exceptionally sweet whist Willow smelt familiar; she was nothing for him to worry about. He approached them and gave them a brush with him arms as he walked by them both; he was reassuring them as he knew they were worried. He turned to face the Cave and waited for their other to come. Caitlin was wearing a scowl as she walked towards her friends, she was annoyed and confused. As she took a deep breathe to calm down and caught an alluring scent, she noticed it was coming from Willow so she went over and stood right next to her, Buffy just smelt like family to her so she was not bothered by her presence. "How did it go?" Buffy asked the two, she noticed they were looking at the Cave, Kyle and his group were just exiting when she looked over her shoulder. They looked unharmed, Kyle was sporting a slight bruise to the jaw and she knew her sister had hit him.

Caitlin huffed and turned on her heel ready to leave "I'm not feeling well, I'm going to find Miss Calendar," she said as she headed off. She just wasn't up to seeing everything else at the moment, she knew being with the teacher would calm her nerves but she didn't know why. Xander grinned as she walked off, he was going to beat her and lead and it was going to be easy.

~GU:CM~

Jenny couldn't put her finger on it but she just knew there was something different about her passenger, Caitlin had sought her out an hour before leaving and didn't seem inclined to talk. Now she knew about Caitlin's little disorder she knew not to bother asking. Caitlin's leg was twitching as she stared out of the passenger window, she knew she was acting strange but she was a little preoccupied to be bothered about it. Jenny pulled up outside of Caitlin's house, she had permission to do so, she turned to look at Caitlin and was amazed that she didn't realise she was home "Caitlin your home," she said. Jenny even unbuckled Caitlin, the blonde didn't seem to be responsive and seemed very deep in thought. The teacher got out the car wand walked around to Caitlin's side and opened the door, she reached in and coaxed Caitlin out, she supposed this should be strange for her but there was just something about Caitlin that made it alright. She manoeuvred Caitlin around the car, after locking it of course, and led her towards the Summers abode but before she could knock the door opened and a girl stood there looking confused. "Hey Sweetie is your mother in?" Jenny asked as the girl nodded and called for her mother, the girl held out her hand and Caitlin went over to her.

"Hi my name is Dawn and I guess this has something to do with Caitlin?" she asked. Jenny nodded and allowed Caitlin to go with her sister; she seemed to know what Caitlin needed. Dawn hugged Caitlin's waist "I'm going to take her to her room," Dawn commented and dragged Caitlin up the stairs.

Joyce walked past Dawn on the stairs and sighed as she saw the look on Caitlin's face, today was meant to be a good day, she noticed a fairly young woman standing in her doorway. "Hello Mrs Summer I'm Caitlin's teacher Jenny Calendar," the young woman, Jenny, introduced herself and stuck out her hand.

The mother of three shook the offered hand and signalled for the younger woman to come in, Joyce shut the door once Jenny was in the hallway and showed her to the living room "Would you like a drink?" Joyce asked, Jenny shook her head, "I take it this is about Caitlin," Jenny noticed it wasn't a question.

"I have to say that I don't know what happened but Caitlin was very excited when she walked off with her sister and friends but a few hours into the trip she came and found me. Buffy and Willow shot her sad and questioning looks and Xander shot her a grin, it seemed to irritate her and she hasn't said anything since," Jenny explained. She didn't need to do this but she felt that she had to, Caitlin was one of her favourite students and anyway to help her would make her feel better. She hadn't even been at the school very long but she noticed Caitlin's mood swings.

Joyce ran a hand over her face, she felt like she needed to tell Miss Calendar what had happened "I thought Caitlin had been in a good mood when she came back last night. She is easily set off, I'm just glad she sought you out. She seems to like you very much, she and Willow talked about you the day you joined."

Jenny blushed at that and coughed lightly "I'm glad I have at least two fans, they are my best students. I'll try to keep an eye out for Caitlin, is it best to phone you or get her older sister Buffy?" she asked as she noticed the look of shock on the mother's face, she guessed it was because people assumed Buffy and Caitlin were twins.

The mother of three chuckled to herself "Sorry, it's just that so many people assume that they are twins as they are in the same year." Jenny noticed that Joyce's voice held a certain amount of sadness, the teacher tried not to dwell on it as it brought out her own sadness. She remembered meeting Willow and Caitlin; the only two to come up and introduce themselves, her breath had nearly caught in her throat at the sight of both of them together. Joyce noticed the far off look and cleared her throat "It would be better if you phoned Buffy, she is usually with Buffy anyway but Caitlin has a few classes now where she isn't."

The two women chatted for a little bit longer before Jenny got up to go. She got in her car and watched Willow and Buffy approach, Jenny stopped her movements and watched the two friends enter the house. She placed her head on the steering wheel and started breathing deeply; it was getting harder and harder. Jenny lifted her head and started the car, intent to go home and have a nice glass of whiskey.

~GU:CM~

Dawn had been watching Caitlin since she had gotten home, at first she had been quiet and then she had gotten agitated and started to pace, nothing unusual about her behaviour until she started snarling. Dawn would swear blind that her sister had snarled at a bird in the tree that was tweeting nosily. Caitlin had grabbed a stone from her candle bowl and lobbed it at the poor bird; which was unlike Caitlin. They were now sat at Dinner and Caitlin seemed twitchy, her eyes kept darting to the Beef their mother had cooked, she was eyeing it up like she almost wanted to try a little.

"So how was everyone's day?" Joyce asked from the head of the table, she already knew most of what had happened but she couldn't stand the silence. Usually Dawn and Caitlin were chatting up a storm, even if Caitlin was in a bad mood; it was strange to have a quiet dinner table. This reminded her of the time before they moved to Sunnydale, she hated it.

Buffy looked up from devouring her food to see if Dawn or Caitlin were going to talk first, they usually did, but she noticed that Dawn was looking at Caitlin and Caitlin was looking at the meat dinner. The eldest child swallowed her food and looked to her mother who looked pretty upset "Well the Zoo was quite cool," Buffy started to talk and she noticed that her mother perked up. Dawn turned her attention to Buffy and Caitlin focused on Dawn with almost a frown marring her features. That shocked Buffy; Caitlin had never given her sister that look before, something seemed to be wrong with Caitlin. The younger blonde leant back on her chair and looked at her plate with a sneer. "I know I've been to the Zoo loads of times and at first I wasn't as excited as the others but Xander pointed it out that it was a nice day off," Buffy chuckled as Joyce shook her head in disbelief.

It amused her that her eldest would do anything to get out of school whilst her younger two loved going. She turned her attention to Caitlin and Dawn "How about you Dawnie?" Joyce asked with a smile. She found Dawn endearing, she truly did, the young girl worshipped the ground Caitlin walked on. Just as Caitlin had with Buffy and Buffy with Paige and so on, she even remembered worshipping the ground her own sister walked on.

Dawn bounced in her seat lightly "I got to do a test today, the teacher said it was to see what my IQ and test average was," the young girl smiled. Buffy's jaw dropped in shock, Caitlin's tightened. Joyce's eyes widened she remembered Caitlin taking the test and Dawn's age, she was surprised that Dawn was being given the choice as well. It wasn't that she thought Dawn wasn't smart but she didn't think Dawn expressed the same smarts and Caitlin had. Out of all the family Caitlin had been the only one to skip grades, Prue and Paige had been tested but neither of them quite reached the level to skip a grade. Dawn carried on "The first half of the test was easy but the second half was harder," Dawn had struggled to answer the last few questions and hadn't been able to finish them.

"That's okay sweetheart Prue and Paige went through the same thing when they were about your age," Joyce assured her daughter. Prue and Paige had actually said the same thing. Joyce had actually been surprised when Caitlin had been given the same option purely because she wouldn't sit still in classes. The younger blonde had only calmed down after she had been in classes with her sister, that's when Joyce and a reluctant Hank noticed how intelligent she truly was. Dawn nodded, if her cousins did it then it must have been alright, the young girl didn't get told about all of the naughty things that Paige, Phoebe and even Prue had done. Turning her attention to her middle child Joyce asked her how her day was.

Caitlin shrugged and pushed her food away from her "Was alright," the answer was unlike Caitlin because the blonde enjoy talking about what she learnt or the animals she had seen, even when she was feeling like crap. The middle child looked down at her plate and thought it wasn't far enough away and gave it a violent shove. The plate slid along the table and nearly fell off the other side, buffy managed to catch it. Caitlin sneered at the plate before she got up and left the room.

"Anyone else think that was strange?" Dawn piped up and broke the silence with a question. Buffy nodded to Dawn's question but didn't verbally respond, she was confused at the way Caitlin was acting. Joyce leant back in her chair a sighed, she thought Caitlin would be relaxed for more than a few hours, she had spent the weekend with her cousins and grandmother after all but something was obviously bugging Caitlin.

~GU:CM~

The Bronze was busy as always, Buffy and Willow were stood at the bar "It's just that she's acting like she would normally most of the time but for a few seconds it's like she was someone else, it freaked Mom and Dawn out a little," Buffy had explained to Willow what had happened at dinner. Buffy had to admit it was a little freaky for her as well. Buffy grabbed her Coke and croissant from the bar, she nodded at the bartender.

Willow and Buffy turned and walked away from the crowded bar and went to find an empty table, "Maybe she's just having an episode or something," she had picked up the term from Dawn when her and Caitlin had been helping Dawn do her homework; she had asked Caitlin if she had had another episode. They make their way over to an empty table and sit down.

"No she's never had an episode like this before, even at her worst," Buffy responded, she took a sip of her Coke. She then shrugged, it could have been an episode and that could mean she was getting worse and that worried her. She would just have to see how this progressed, if worst came to worst Caitlin would have to move in with Grams, she would be able to visit at weekends and holidays, it saddened her but if it was necessary she would have to deal with it. It was Dawn who was going to feel it the most, her youngest sister adored Caitlin.

Nodding, Willow let the subject drop, if she was worried about Caitlin than Buffy must be near on frantic, she hid it well though. "I thought Xander would be here by now?" Subject officially changed and it didn't look fake or awkward, score one for Willow.

The slayer looked around but couldn't see the teen in question; he was a big boy and knew not to walk in deserted areas by now so she would start to worry in about an hour "Hmm, that'd make him on time. We couldn't have that!" Buffy said with a grin, she was teasing slightly but she was also a little serious. Moments like these made Buffy rethink her evaluation on Willow, she seemed really attached to Caitlin, which she thought was good, and at others she seemed to go back to Xander. She internally shook herself; it was only because Xander and Willow had been friends for over a decade.

"Did he seem upset at all on the bus back from the zoo?" Willow hadn't been sat with Xander and Buffy on the way back from the bus because they had gotten there late and Xander had pretty much dragged Buffy to sit by him. Willow had been sat next to Lance who had seemed jumpy, she had tried to talk to him but he had just mumbled something and ignored her.

Buffy just shrugged, she really hadn't been paying all that much attention to him because she had wanted to sit beside Willow and try and grill her about Caitlin. She wanted to know if Willow had feelings for Caitlin but on the way back she realised it wasn't a good idea. "About what?" Buffy asked as she started on her croissant, damn her Slayer metabolism.

"I dunno. He was quiet," she hadn't be sat beside him but she knew his voice well enough to hear it in a crowd of their class mates, he hadn't spoken much to anyone and when she had looked he had seemed preoccupied or stealing glances at Buffy. A few months ago and that would have bothered her but since Caitlin and Buffy had come into their lives she didn't even tingle with jealousy.

The older teen just shook her head "I didn't notice anything," Buffy glanced around trying to find her sister in the crowd, Caitlin had been pacing when she left but had told her that she would be there within the hour. "But then again I'm not as hyperaware of him as, oh, say, for example, you," Buffy grinned again but this time it was to see if Willow really did have a crush on Xander, it would clear her mind and save her an awkward conversation if Willow didn't. she didn't want to see her sister hurt, especially by a friend she had sought out to make.

Willow looked around nervously, sure she knew a lot about Xander but she wasn't hyperaware of him, not anymore "Hyperaware?" she asked trying to sound confused, she managed it rather well.

Sighing, Buffy responded "Well, I'm not constantly monitoring his health, his moods, his blood pressure..."

"Last I checked it was 130 over 80, but then that was a while ago," whoops that could be classed as a slip. Buffy was going to find out that she was infatuated with Xander at this rate. Willow was confused when a flash of disappointment passed across Buffy's face

Buffy couldn't help but feel bad for her sister now, Willow was clearly still wanting to be with Xander. "You got it bad, girl!" she just managed to pull of amused. She won't be amused when Caitlin is hurt with this little love triangle, she would have to talk to Willow eventually.

Willow shook her head. She didn't want Buffy thinking she was crushing after Xander, Buffy was protective of Caitlin and she just wasn't sure how she felt anymore. "I don't think of him like that, not anymore at least. But there is someone that makes my head tingle, you know what I mean?" Her confession with a shy smile, she wasn't going to tell who it was.

She was doing an inward dance as she responded "I dimly recall," Buffy couldn't hide the smile even if she tried. Her sister might have a girlfriend soon, the thought alone stopped her thought process, Caitlin would need to get better first or it wouldn't be fair on either of the parties involved. Well that certainly put a spanner in the works.

"But it hasn't happened to you lately?" Willow asked, another effective misdirection score two for Willow. She was getting better at this whole teasing friend thing. She was so glad to have female friends that she can actually talk to about these things, even though she kept diverting the attention from herself, she was getting better but she wasn't perfect.

Buffy's smile slipped a little but it wasn't completely lost "Not of late," she agreed with the question. She had more important things to deal with of late than fawning over boys, but she had her eyes set on someone so all was not lost, it wasn't like she was ever going to join the convent, she's have to be brainwashed or possessed in order to do that.

Willow started to smirk, she had Buffy now and payback was sweet "Not even for a dangerous and mysterious older man whose leather jacket you're wearing right now?" she asked innocently but her smirk didn't match.

The older teen narrowed her eyes in mock annoyance at Willow, who just continued to smirk "Goes with the shoes!" she kept up with the nock annoyance but the smile gave her away, she was just happy.

"Come on, Angel pushes your buttons. You know he does," Willow teased in a sing song voice. At least she was teasing about the right person; she just couldn't believe Buffy picked on her old feelings for Xander so quickly!

Buffy shrugged trying to play it off "I suppose some girls might find him good looking..."Willow gives Buffy a look, she clearly wasn't buying it "...if they have eyes, alright, he's a honey, but... it's just he's never around, and when he is, all he wants to do is talk about vampires, and... I, I just can't have a relationship..." Buffy tried to explain, she couldn't and wouldn't date someone that all they cared about was Vampires, Buffy hated being the slayer and she wasn't going to date someone who encouraged it.

The redhead nodded and caught someone out of the corner of her eye, she turned a little and saw Xander walking in "There he is!" Willow exclaims. She pointed towards the entrance and smiled, not her finest moment.

"Angel?" Buffy turned around to look for said male but found nothing and turned back to her friend. Willow two, awkwardness one.

Willow looked apologetic but points again "Xander!" she commented and Buffy made an understanding face, the blonde wasn't entirely convinced about Willow no longer liking Xander but she would keep quiet and observe.

Xander walked through the club, making his way over to his girls, he slowed his pace as a very nice looking girl walked past him, the girl slowed down to look at him too but Xander kept walking. He had his intended; everyone else was just eye candy for him, he took a deep breath and was pleased to smell his intended close by, he turned to the smell and followed it "Girls!" he exclaimed with a wide grin as he came to the table.

"Boy!" Buffy greeted with the same grin, she was glad he was there now it meant that she only had to worry about Caitlin. That's if she even turned up.

"Sorry I'm late, I... just forgot that we were gonna be here," he didn't see the point in lying, it's not like they could do anything about it anyways, he smelt something that smelt good and looked down to see Buffy's croissant "Hungry!" he snatched it up and tore a piece off and ate it, making an content noise as he did so.

Willow fiddled with her fingers, which caught Buffy's attention away from glaring at Xander, Willow noticed the look but could do nothing more to convince Buffy "Xander, you still want me to help you with geometry tomorrow? We can work after class..." she was just helping her friend and stopping him from failing and having to repeat. Willow was sure Caitlin had helped Buffy do that before.

The male knew he needed the help but it didn't seem all that important, Willow would only moan if he said no and to make his life simple so Xander gave Willow a thumbs-up, "Yeah." He continued to eat his bit of the croissant, he pulled a face "What is this crap?" he asked seeing as it was hers.

Buffy glared a little "Well, it *was* my buttery croissant," she didn't like anyone touching her food, not even her baby cousins. She never reacted when someone did, she just filed it away to use later on and she always got payback, Dawn was the worst for it and she always got her baby sister back tenfold.

"Man, I need some food! Birds live on this!" Xander pulled a face, he regretted eating that. He wanted something juicy, something that just dripped with sauces. His stomach rumbled loudly and caught both girls by surprise. Buffy and Willow looked at each other and then back at Xander, he was acting like Caitlin. He looked back and forth at them "What?" his question was asking with a twinge of defiance. No female was going to second guess him.

Buffy felt a tingle from her Slayer but ignored it in favour of actually asking if something was wrong, she was human after all "What's up with you?" She didn't need her Slayer to know that something was clearly not right with him; he was acting like a typical guy.

Willow followed up with a question of her own when Xander just stared at Buffy, which was a little unnerving, she felt the need to intervene "Is something wrong? Did we do something?"

"What could you *two* possibly do? That's crazy talk. I'm just... restless," the two females didn't miss the fact that he had stressed two. Caitlin wasn't one of them, Caitlin must have done something or Xander must have done something to Caitlin. Buffy felt her hackles rise at the insinuation Xander had made.

Quickly intervening again Willow spoke up "Well, we could go to the ice cream place..." she trailed off not really knowing what to say, Ice cream always cheered Xander up.

Xander shook his head and pointed to the table "I like it here," he knew she would come here and it was the perfect area to patrol it was crowded and no one would pay the least bit of attention to him. At that he looked up and scanned the area a bit, and then leant toward Buffy and sniffs her hair, he really liked how she smelt and now her scent was fresh.

Buffy moved her head away from Xander; yeah he was defiantly acting like Caitlin "Okay, now what?" She asked giving him a strange look. She did not want to be sniffed by her friend who just so happened to have a crush on her.

The strange acting teen "You took a bath," he commented as he sniffed again but did not lean in, he didn't actually need to lean in but she needed to know he was interested, it would make things easier for him if she didn't go off with other males.

"Yeah, I-I often do, I'm actually known for it," Buffy teased Xander trying to fight of the awkwardness she was feeling, he was being way to blatant and she did not like it. It was easy to ignore his crush when he was too shy to admit it.

Xander's eyes flickered to the side for a moment, he was still looking for her "That's okay."

Willow and Buffy exchange another look.

"And the weird behaviour award goes to..." the Slayer muttered as she kept her eyes on Xander, she would fight him if he tried to come to her and he would fight him if he tried the same to Willow, even if Willow didn't want her to, the blonde shook her head she had to trust Willow's word.

Xander saw Kyle and the others come in, not who he was looking for but it would do. Buffy saw where Xander was looking and then looked too, the new song started to play as she spoke "Oh, great. It's the winged monkeys," she snarked, just what she needed to make her night worse, those idiots.

Kyle and company walked further into the club but stopped to stare at Xander, they weren't leader material and they would submit to either Xander or her. Xander stared back at them, trying to show his dominance. The gang tilt their head slightly before moving on, they were yet to show they would follow him, not wanting to be bothered by finding a table they go over to an occupied one and start to harass the boy sat there "Y'know, I don't understand why you're sitting at our table."

"Yeah, shouldn't you be hovering over the football stadium with 'Goodyear' written on you?" Rhonda asked as she advanced on the teen, she was imposing and the teen got up and rushed away. The gang snickered at his expense and then made themselves comfortable at the table.

Xander was watching he was proud that the gang had hunted together and sneered as the kid ran past him. He stopped sneering as he turned back and saw buffy giving him a peculiar look, she doesn't find it amusing, so he stopped and shrugged "Kid's fat," he said as if it made sense for his behaviour. Xander did a quick scan of the area and still didn't see her "I'm out of here," Xander waved his hand slightly and made his way out of the Bronze.

Buffy watched him leave before turning back to look at Willow, they sat there for a little bit before they both got up and made their way to the exit of the bronze. Both were clearly in agreement that they wanted to know if something was wrong with Xander, following him seemed the best thing to do.

The two of them had tried to stay close but they had got stuck at the door, he was a little ahead of them but didn't seem to be moving anymore. They moved closer to him and noticed he was staring at Caitlin, who was staring straight back at him. Before Buffy or Willow could ask what took Caitlin so long, Xander lunged. Caitlin easily dodged Xander and tripped him up, the other two females just stood there looking confused as to why Xander had attacked Caitlin. Caitlin looked down at Xander and sneered; Xander swiped at Caitlin's feet with his leg but the blonde jumped over it and chuckled. The male stood up with a growl and flung his fist at her; Caitlin ducked and thrust her shoulder into his stomach, bringing him down to his knees. Buffy shook her head and rushed over to stand between the two "What is going on?" she demanded. Willow stayed where she was not believing what she had seen happen between her friends.

"Showing him who's boss," Caitlin flashed a toothy smirk and looked down at the winded male "Y'know what, I'm not in the mood for the Bronze tonight," with that Caitlin turned on her heel and walked away. Buffy and Willow turned to look down at Xander and noticed him already walking away from them. The two friends peered at each other and didn't know what to say.

~GU:CM~

Dawn snuck into Caitlin's room, she knew it was wrong but she just knew something was up with her sister and she wanted to find out what it was. None of them let Dawn read the books on Caitlin's top shelves, said she was too young to understand them, well Caitlin said she could when she understood, which just confused the pre-teen. She would have to clamber onto Caitlin's desk chair but she would be able to reach, she knew which book she wanted and it was luckily in the middle of the top shelf and stood out. The brunette pushed the chair up against the book case and climbed up on it, she carefully gripped the bookcase in her hands, making sure she had some balance. The book was right in front of her 'Ancient Magicks', with a grin she grabbed the book and quickly got off of the chair and put it back into the right place. She snuck out of the room just as easily as she had snuck in, her mother was in her room sorting and filing paperwork and her sisters were still out so all was good. She would be able to read the book in relative peace; she was looking forward to being able to help find out what was wrong with her big sister.

The slamming door jolted Dawn from her reading, she quickly closed the book and hid it under her pillow, she had sussed out what was wrong with Caitlin. Her symptoms fit someone who was possessed. The youngest occupant of the house got up from her bed and headed downstairs to see who had come in. she heard her mother talking, she hadn't even realised her mother had gone downstairs, she heard a grunt and assumed that it was Caitlin who had come home. The teen usually grunted or huffed when she was agitated or preoccupied. She heard her mother asking Caitlin something and was surprised by the response "Mother would you just butt out of my life!" Caitlin shouted at their mother. Dawn came into the kitchen and saw the surprised on her mother's face and would bet it matched the look on her own face. Caitlin's face fell at the look of shock and hurt displayed on her mother's face, she walked around the island and pulled her mother into a hug, taking a deep breath as she did so. Caitlin peered at Dawn over their mother's shoulder but turned her head to face their mother's neck for a little bit before pushing out of the hug and rushing from the room. Joyce stood there for a few seconds in stunned silence before she too turned and left the room, leaving Dawn all by herself. She hadn't see her mother act like that since Caitlin had gone away for a few months, some extra school credits to graduate early, that's what her dad had told her anyway.

Dawn turned her head when she saw the front door open and Buffy walking in, she shut the door behind her and locked it. The older sister didn't pause as she walked up the stairs; she obviously didn't expected Dawn to be downstairs. The young girl followed Buffy into the older girls room "Buffy there is something wrong with Caitlin," she said quietly; she didn't want Caitlin or their mother hearing what she was saying. Buffy just gave Dawn a look and shook her head. "I'm telling you Buffy something is wrong!" Dawn exclaimed she had spent some of the evening with Caitlin after she had come home; the teen had seemed strange when she came home early. Caitlin had growled at Joyce when she had asked her what she was doing home, before she brought her mother into a hug and took a deep breath before pushing her away and rushing up the stairs. Dawn hadn't tried to talking to her because she knew Caitlin wouldn't have allowed her in the room after her little episode with their mother.

Buffy turned and held her baby sister "She got into a fight Dawnie, she's gotten into them before," the older sister wasn't completely convinced herself that Caitlin was alright but she didn't want Dawn to have to worry about Caitlin.

Dawn stayed in Buffy's grasp but shook her head "She's baring her teeth, growling, she fought Xander and we know she doesn't hit her friends Buffy. She told mom to butt out of her life. Mom is her world Buffy!" Dawn exclaimed as she tightened her arms around Buffy.

It was true, Buffy knew Caitlin loved her and Dawn but Mom really was her world, they weren't far behind but she had always been a massive mommy's girl. It was almost as if Caitlin had known she would get no attention from Hank at all. The fact Caitlin told their mother to butt out was a little worrying. Buffy gently pushed Dawn to arm's length "Caitlin will be fine Dawnie; she's just going through something."

"No she's possessed Buffy, who do you know that growls and snarls, we both know Caitlin huffs at most. I know you won't believe me but it is possession and I bet it is an animal!" Dawn was getting agitated and Buffy could see that. She lifted her hands to placate her sister but Dawn huffed at her, clearly it was a Halliwell trait, and crossed her arms "You don't believe me, fine" with that the youngest sibling turned and went to her room and slammed her door. Buffy's slayer hearing picked up growls coming from Caitlin room, she was going to give Caitlin the benefit of the doubt and just assume it was a bad mood, Caitlin would never get herself possessed. She rubbed her forehead and picked her up pad, drawing sounded like a good idea right now.

~GU:CM~

Giles had closed the library for Buffy's training session, Caitlin was sat watching her sister's every move; it was like she was studying her sister. Giles was wearing protective gear while Buffy trained on him, Giles wanted to assess her hand to hand skills. She did a roundhouse kick followed by a high punch and a swinging middle punch to Giles' gloved hands. Caitlin got up from her perched position, she leant forward slightly. Buffy continued training, without knowing that Caitlin had moved, doing a full spin and finishing with a backhand punch, She followed that up with a jumping spin wheel kick followed by a right middle punch, a high roundhouse kick and a front snap kick. Caitlin moved to the side and looked ready to pounce in on the action; Giles caught her movement but didn't know what she was going to do. Buffy jumped high and did a twin straddle kick, landing back on her feet and moves in to attack again, Giles suddenly jumped back as Caitlin intercepted and started to duel with her sister. Caitlin swiped at Buffy with left hook, Buffy parried; Caitlin followed a backhand, Buffy dodged. Giles watched and was impressed with Caitlin's form, she had a tight defence and the only opening she had was there to catch attention and could easily be defended. Caitlin jumped back as Buffy made a feeble attempt to hit her and she quickly retaliated, almost clipping Buffy with a right roundhouse to the temple, Buffy just managed to bring her arm up to block it. "That's enough training for one day."

"Well, that last roundhouse was kinda sloppy," Buffy commented on her attempt to hit Caitlin, not that she was actively trying "Are you sure you don't want to do it again?" Buffy turned to Giles. Caitlin was honestly trying to hit her but Buffy didn't know why, she hadn't annoyed her sister because Caitlin had been gone when she had gotten up. It was Caitlin's swimming day and she left well over an hour before Buffy got up.

Giles who was still out of breath was amazed that neither Buffy nor Caitlin had broken a sweat "No! No, no, that's fine. You just... run along to class," Buffy nodded and turned to let Caitlin go in front of her but Caitlin was already headed to the door, she was tense and looked ready to snap. "While I wait for the feeling to return to my arms," Giles watched Buffy leave, obviously deflated by her sister's actions; he could have sworn that he had heard Caitlin growling.

~GU:CM~

Caitlin stalked down the hallway; she was annoyed at her sister and at her sister's stupid watcher

Cut outside to Willow helping Xander with his geometry.

Xander shook his head and put down his pencil "I'm not getting this," he hated geometry. He knew why he had lost last night, he wasn't as good as Caitlin and it annoyed him. it didn't annoy him because it was Caitlin who was better, it annoyed him because he couldn't be better for her. He knew she wouldn't want him and that was okay with him but it was his job to help protect her and he would have to do things for her until she got her intended and he got his and even then he would help. What annoyed him the most about the whole thing was that if Caitlin didn't find him suitable she wouldn't allow him to be with his intended, her sister.

"It's simple, really. See, 'The bisector of a vertex is the line that divides the angle at that vertex into two equal parts,'" Willow was trying not to get annoyed but they had done this before and he had been able to do it, he hadn't cheated but now he was struggling. She might need Caitlin's help with it, speaking of the devil Caitlin stopped beside them

The older teen rubbed his face with his hands, he really wasn't in the mood for this "It's like a big blur, all these numbers and angles," it was starting to hurt his head. He greeted Caitlin with a slight bowing of the head to show his submission and he was rewarded with a nod.

Willow smiled at Caitlin, who smiled back, and turned back to Xander, hoping to jog his memory "It's the same stuff from last week. You had it down then," she was soft spoken with this so it didn't make him feel inadequate.

"Why do I need to learn this?" he looked up from the book to both Caitlin and Willow. Caitlin smirked in amusement, Xander was glad to see there was no condescension in her smirk just genuine amusement.

The redhead sighed and slumped knowing she was on a losing path "'Cause otherwise you'll flunk math?" she asked sarcastically, she knew he would because she kept a close eye on his grades.

The male narrowed his eye at Willow but stopped from saying anything harsh when Caitlin gave a very low warning growl "Explain the part where that's bad," he rubbed the bridge of his nose as he restrained from snapping at her, pleasing his Alpha was hard when he was at his breaking point.

She was going to power through his negativity even if it killed him "You remember, you fail math, you flunk out of school, you end up being the guy at the pizza place that sweeps the floor and says, 'Hey, kids, where's the cool parties this weekend?' We've been through this," Willow explained. She and Xander had laughed at the lame pizza guys and Xander had said he never wanted to be one. She frowned when he started to rub his temples "Do you have a headache?" she reached up to him but he moved slightly and Caitlin gently gripped her arms. Willow looked up at Caitlin and saw her shaking her head. Caitlin knew Xander was going to break and snap at her, she couldn't blame him so she prevented an action that would have to make her blame him.

Xander hummed in approval of his Alpha, not that Willow could hear, Caitlin returned it with a huff because it was her job to look after him "Yeah, and I think I know what's causing it," he pointed down to the book and grimaced at it. Caitlin released Willow's arms and picked the book up, she flicked through a few pages and sneered in annoyance at it then threw it towards the trash can. The book landed in the trash with a thud, "Ah! That's better, it goes right to the source of the pain,"

"Xander..." Willow trailed off when she saw Caitlin shaking her head again, it was almost as if the blonde knew what Xander was feeling and knew she shouldn't provoke him, Willow just wanted Xander to pass.

"Look…" Xander started off in frustration but died off as Caitlin warned him again, he knew he shouldn't get frustrated with Willow but he couldn't help it.

Caitlin took over from Xander, if someone was going to be harsh to her intended it will be her forget it Xander, okay? You don't get it and your frustrated meaning you won't get it until you aren't, let's go," she needed to get away before she decided to try and jump Willow. Plus getting away will help calm Xander down. Xander cheered as he stood up and threw his math notebook into Willow's lap, he started walking away. Caitlin shot Willow a small little smile to easy her feelings, she caught up with Xander and smacked in on the back of the head "You didn't need to throw the book at her,"

"I threw the book on her lap, you threw her book in the bin," Xander defended himself as he held open the door for her; he smiled as she gave him a raised brow. His attitude was a hell of a lot different from the previous night.

Caitlin snorted at his chivalrous behaviour, he was trying to redeem himself she'd give him that "be that as it may Xander do not test me," she responded with finality. They both walked down the hallway and walked past Buffy holding a pig; the piglet reacted to their presence as they walked by. Buffy looked confused as she watched them pass, and struggled to keep Herbert from jumping out of her arms without using slayer strength and crushing him.

They had been told they were having, apparently there had been an accident. Most of them believed that the Coach was hung over, he wasn't exactly the greatest coach going but he did pass everyone who participated because he couldn't be bothered to really observe them. The coach noticed the younger Summers kid walking in the gym and smiled, she attended every now and then, he loved how she beat most of the others kids and put them in their place after taunting her. "Alright, it's raining, all regular gym classes have been postponed, so you know what that means!" he shouted to the kids stood in front of him, he wanted some entertainment, he held up a large rubber ball. The Coach almost laughed when he heard the groans but he really couldn't care about them "dodge ball! Now sort yourself into groups Summers you are one captain, Kid Summers you are the other, I want to see some sibling rivalry!" it probably wasn't professional but it was in the name of sportsmanship. The groups were quickly sorted out Caitlin had chosen Xander, Kyle and his little gang, she had chosen her pack. She had a few others but she didn't care about them. Buffy had chosen Willow to be with her, she didn't want Willow over with them especially because she was acting funny. "Now, for those of you that may have forgotten, the rules are as follows: you dodge" Coach tossed the ball in his hands to Buffy. He blew his whistle, and the two groups moved back from centre court, where the other balls had been placed. He whistled again and the ball throwing instigated. The pack members easily dodge the balls, Caitlin sought out a weakling in her sisters group and quickly threw the ball nailing the teen in the head, her pack hooted, it almost sounded like howls, as the teen scampered off. Xander sought his own victim; he picked a chubby kid at the back and aimed the ball at his groin. The game was already in favour of Caitlin's team; Buffy was the only one really hitting her mark on her team. Xander threw the ball again and nailed Willow hard on the back. Willow gave him a hurt look as she walked off the court; Kyle pulled his arm back to throw the ball at Willow but Caitlin quickly knocked him over. Kyle snarled as he got up but whimpered when he saw Caitlin baring her teeth. Buffy almost got hit as she was watching the interaction between Caitlin and the others; she was surprised to see Caitlin acting so primal. The game carried on for a few more minutes and it was only the Pack and Lance on one side and only Buffy on the other, the pack looked at her briefly before turning around to face Lance, Caitlin nodded but looked to Buffy instead.

Lance fell to the floor and cowered as the pack threw their balls at him, hard. Buffy rushed over and helped Lance up. She stared at Xander, who stared back. Buffy changed her view to Caitlin, who looked at Lance before looking at her. The younger blonde huffed before heading to the gym doors; she had entrained the coach so he wouldn't care if they left, the pack followed her leave. The coach watched them go and wiped at his eye, he had been laughing at the kids and how entertaining it was "God, this game is brutal. I love it!"

~GU:CM~

Willow was waiting for Xander after his class, she wanted to confront him about his behaviour especially after Gym. She approached him when he comes from the other hall with the pack. "What's wrong with you guys?" Willow asked Caitlin and Xander. Caitlin frowned slightly but made no move to talk or approach her; she knew Willow wasn't ready for her and that's why she had been keeping her distance. Xander looked at the others briefly, then to Caitlin who nodded her head almost faintly and with permission to talk to her he pulled Willow aside.

Xander leant in to talk to her "I guess you've noticed that I've been different around you lately," he was soft spoken, not letting her know what he was really thinking. This was going to be what made him popular with the rest of the pack. Caitlin sensed something but did nothing yet, giving him the benefit of the doubt. Willow nodded but her eyes cut to Caitlin. Xander noticed and brought her attention back to him by talking "I think, um... I think it's because my feelings for you have been changing," Buffy came around the corner to her locker and spotted them a little further down, she put her combination in but kept an eye on them from the corner of her eye. Her sister seemed to be calm but she noticed she was in the process of tensing, she obviously wasn't happy with what Xander had said or intended to say. "And, well, we've been friends for such a long time that I feel like I need to tell you something," Xander continued and noticed the expectant look Willow was giving him "I've, um... I've decided to drop geometry. So I won't be needing your math help anymore, which means I won't have to look at your pasty face again," Caitlin completely tensed so she didn't attack Xander, that was not what she agreed to let him do. Willow spun on her heels, without looking at Caitlin again or Xander, and rushed the opposite. The other pack started to snicker at Willow's weakness.

Buffy slammed her locker in anger, careful not to use too much Slayer strength, then walked over to the group and looked at Xander disappointedly "You gonna say something to me?" Xander looked over at Caitlin, she was the leader after all but he couldn't decipher the look on her face, he turned back to Buffy and started laughing again more loudly. He went back to the pack and they left, leaving Caitlin staring at her sister. Buffy looked straight back at her "You going to say something?" she asked with disappointment and anger thick in her tone, Caitlin just shook her head slowly so Buffy turned and went after Willow.

Caitlin growled low in her throat and stalked after Xander, how dare he do that she had staked a claim on Willow and for him to defy her was punishable by death and at that moment she was so tempted to do that. She saw them entering the quad and they looked over at her when they heard her growl, Xander's smirk fell right off of his face when he heard the anger in his Alpha's growl. Caitlin flashed her teeth at her Beta and when she approached she grabbed his neck but stopped from breaking it when she heard his pitiful whimpers, he was just trying to impress her to get some recognition and praise "Never do it again!" she growled and released him.

Xander nodded so Caitlin released him and then he decided to get on with his job to hunt for the Alpha, he wasn't the Alpha's mate but it was still his job to provide food for her because she would never have a male to call her own, her mate would be female so he would need to provide for both of them. Xander turned her head one way and then another, his nose caught a scent "Dogs!"

"Where?" Kyle asked eager to eat and his eagerness was what eased Caitlin's anger and she nodded letting them go hunt. Xander looked at Caitlin again before he led the pack over to three boys sitting at a table.

"You're out of your mind, that's no way to play guitar" the first boy protested obviously they were arguing about music and couldn't agree.

The second boy was the one he was evidently arguing with the first boy "What are you talking about?" his tone made them think he had just called the first boy and idiot.

"I mean, that's just hunt and peck!" the first boy exclaimed very much into what he was saying but the pack just didn't care, they just wanted food.

"It's not!" the other boy shot back equally convinced that he was right and his friend was wrong, Caitlin rolled her eyes because it was such a trivial matter and there were other things to worry about.

The pack arrived at the table and the others looked up and the first boy called out to Xander "Hey, Xander, you've heard Wretched Refuse play, what do you think of the guy who plays lead?" he asked noted noticed that five of the six pack members were sniffing around and looking at their food. Tor reached for the first boy's hotdog whilst Heidi took the second boy's hotdog "Hey Hey, what are you guys..."

"Shut up," Rhonda said as she briefly glanced at the boy but didn't give him much attention, if their Alpha said eat then they were going to eat.

"You're sharing," Kyle explained as if they boys didn't get the concept whilst he watched Tor and Heidi tried the hotdogs to see if they were any good. Caitlin looked on in slight disgust, the Wolf in her wanted to eat the meat but her normal self wouldn't even consider it and therefore she let her pack eat it.

Xander added to Kyle's words "Friends like to share," he watched as Tor and Heidi ate "Good?" he asked with a glance over his shoulder at Caitlin who was just stood there peering at the others but made no move to eat, a part of him realised she wouldn't eat this food,

"It's too well-done," He threw the rest of the hotdog back on the boy's lunch and Heidi threw the hotdog on the other boy's plate with a slightly disgusted look.

The first boy matched that look "Hey! That is *not* cool" the pack ignored him; Xander sniffed the air again and looked in the scent's direction. Caitlin raised a brow catching the scent as well but she didn't find it appealing but led the way, Xander was quick to follow Kyle climbed onto the table and stomps the boys' lunches further ruining their meal and the other three laughed as they walked off.

As Caitlin approached the building she turned to her Beta and signalled for him to take the lead and sensing her discomfort at the thought of eating meat he nodded and led the others to the source of the smell, the new mascot Herbert the Razorback. Caitlin knew she had food in her locker so she went to get it whilst the others feasted; she was back before they finished seeing as she only had a salad to eat and they had a moving and living object. They all exited looking content and sated, "finished?" she asked sounding amused at the happy look on their faces; they all nodded with a grin and followed Caitlin as she turned and headed to the quad. Several students stared at them as they walked by but only Lance stopped in front of them, it was almost if the others knew they were dangerous and the Alpha was glad she couldn't be asked to get into a fight right after eating.

The pack looked at Lance and Xander sniffed him, but they kept walking right by. Xander and Caitlin noticed Buffy and Willow sitting and talking on the balcony above with their advanced hearing they could hear the words being said "I've known him my whole life, Buffy," Willow looked up at Buffy with tears in her eyes "Well, we haven't always been close, but he's never..." Willow exhaled slowly trying not to start crying again. Caitlin turned to Xander and started snarling lowly in reprimand, "and I thought Caitlin and I were getting close but she didn't even stick up for me."

"No Willow she did," Buffy comforted not wanting Willow to be upset at her sister "all the time Xander was saying those things Caitlin was almost snarling under her breath and I swear I heard her growling as she walked off after Xander. I'm seriously starting to think something's wrong with them."

Willow looked down and spoke in a weak voice "Or maybe there's something wrong with me," Willow wanted to believe Buffy but she was too hurt by her friends actions and she was always being picked on so it must be her.

Buffy looked confused there was nothing wrong with Willow from what she could see "What are you talking about?" she asked to see if she thought there was something wrong or if she knew there was something wrong.

"C'mon, He's not picking on you he's just sniffing you a lot. I don't know, maybe three isn't company anymore," Willow met Buffy's eyes again and was still refraining from crying. She realised too late her argument was slightly moot because what Xander was doing to Buffy, Caitlin was doing to her.

"You think this has something to do with me?" Buffy asked in confusion but then realised about Caitlin "Caitlin does the same with you so there can't be anything wrong with you," Buffy finished a little smugly.

Willow rolled her eyes at Buffy's question and then blushed when she mentioned Caitlin, she so didn't want to get into Caitlin's behaviour when she was upset "Of course," Willow answered Buffy's question but ignored the other statement.

Buffy disagreed and shook her head to show it "No that still doesn't explain why their hanging out with the dode patrol; something's going on something weird," Buffy jumped off the railing and started to head to the building.

Willow stayed still for some reason she wanted to stay outside and not follow she reasoned it was because she wanted to calm down "What're you gonna do?" she asked, even though she didn't want to go with her she still wanted to know where she was going

Buffy looked over her shoulder "Talk to the expert on weird," she said simply as she continued to walk into the building and to head to the library to talk to Giles.

~GU:CM~

The whole pack had heard what had been said, Caitlin looked up at Willow and huffed, she did not want her mate to feel that way. Growling the Alpha turned to her Beta and gripped his shirt "Look what you've done!" she spat as she pushed him up against the nearest wall "I know what you are up to Xander, trying to force me to fight you again so you can win. Trying to impress me so I lower my guard won't work either. You're conflicted, I can tell but I can kick your ass anytime of the day," she let go of him and stepped back, the pack whined at the aggressive show of leadership from the Alpha. Xander didn't whine or whimper he frowned; he didn't like being told what to do by this female. He deserved Alpha position; he didn't care if she felt she was privileged enough to get the position. Yes he had lost the fight but she had an unfair advantage, he would get the upper hand one day. Caitlin growled low in her throat warning her pack before she turned and left them to their own devices.

~GU:CM~

Willow continued to sit on the railing, she had a strange feeling she was being watched and turned her head to the right and saw Caitlin next to her just watching her with a soft smile. Caitlin had left the pack to spend time with Willow "Hello Willow," she whispered and she took the stunned teens hand. Willow couldn't believe Caitlin was talking to her, she certainly couldn't believe how Caitlin was looking at her, it was like Caitlin really *wanted* her. Caitlin led Willow to an empty class room, she gently sat Willow on the teachers table and went back and locked the door. She smiled predatorily at Willow and seductively made her way over to her chosen mate, the Wolf howled in delight at the thought of taking Willow as hers. Caitlin pushed Willow gently onto her back and crawled up the redhead's body, making sure to rub her body along hers.

"Cait wha…" Willow was cut off by Caitlin's lips. She tried to pull back but her head was against the desk, she needed to talk to her best friend but she could feel herself giving in to Caitlin's soft and silky lips. Willow idly wondered how Caitlin kept her lips in such good condition because she had never seen the teen use any lip balm. Willow completely forgot about talking and let herself get into the kiss, she wrapped on arm around Caitlin's waist and the other she brought up to grip the short blonde hair.

The younger teen grinned internally at her chosen mate finally submitting to her kiss, she opened her mouth and stroked her tongue along Willow's lips. The redhead immediately opened her mouth to accept the Alpha's tongue, they battled for dominance but Willow quickly submitted to Caitlin again, unknowingly fuelling the Alpha's desire. Caitlin slid her hand slowly down to Willow's hip, she moved slowly so she didn't scare her chosen mate away from her. One by one she slid her fingers under the hem of Willows shirt, the lightly dragged the tips of her fingers up to the bottom of the redheads bra. Before she could go further she felt a heavy blow occur to the back of her head and everything faded to black.

~GU:CM~

Buffy was finally starting to believe Dawn about Caitlin being possessed or something similar anyway. She was just plain acting strange, this wasn't an episode either and the look in Caitlin's eyes was what disturbed her the most. Caitlin's eyes flashed with emotion most of the time but now her eye were just feral seeming. Buffy had explained everything that had happened since yesterday since dinner. Her watcher didn't seem to be very interested thought "Xander's taken to teasing the less fortunate?" he asked, walking out of his office where he had and still was doing work. Buffy nodded with a sound of agreement "And, there's been a noticeable change in both clothing and demeanour for Xander and a lack of emotional turmoil with Caitlin?"

"Yes," Buffy nodded, okay so maybe her watcher was on her side and did believe her about Xander and Caitlin. It would be a great help to have him on their side, Caitlin was street smart but Giles had books, they'd kick the strange behaviours ass.

Giles picked up a book from the desk and started back to his office but stopped to look at Buffy "And, well, otherwise all his spare time is spent lounging about with imbeciles," he had understood what she had been telling him and had even listened to her concerns.

Buffy didn't like how he was saying it, even though it's how he normally spoke, "It's bad, isn't it," she

"It's devastating. He's turned into a sixteen-year-old boy and Caitlin might be getting better. Course, you'll have to kill them," Giles responded to her concern with thick sarcasm, he started to head back to his office but the Slayer stood in front of him. Clearly she was not pleased.

Buffy was a moment away from stomping her foot at him, how dare he use sarcasm against her "Giles, I'm serious this could be affecting my sister" she commented with a heavy frown, she did not take her sisters vitality lightly.

Giles took his glasses of to rub the bridge of his nose "So am I. Except for the part about killing him. Testosterone is a great equalizer. It turns all men into morons. He will, however, get over it. Caitlin may just be rebelling, I don't know about her past but something is clearly bothering her." It was true, he knew about her condition but her files were pretty tightly secured, he was tempted to get Willow to open them up at times

Buffy threw her arms up in the air in exasperation "I cannot believe that you, of all people, are trying to Scully me. There is something supernatural at work here," Buffy took one of the books from Giles and waved it at him. He was always harping on her about not getting involved with her calling as she should have been and now he was criticising her "Get your books! Look stuff up!" she cried in frustration.

Talking the book from his charge Giles gave her an exasperated look "Look under what?" He questioned, if she could give him something to look he would just to placate her.

Buffy opened her mouth to responded she stopped, she realised she didn't actually know, she exhaled and her shoulders slumped "I don't know, that's your department." All she wanted was to know what to do; she hated research and knew she would be dragged into researching

"The evidence that you've presented me with is sketchy at best," he said reluctantly. He was glad that she was starting to get involved but she needed to be more specific. What she had described sounded like typical male teenaged behaviour; he went to the checkout desk and placed his books down to flick through them.

The blonde couldn't really give him anymore, she could tell him about Dawn's suggestion but she didn't really believe that herself so that would be last thing to say. She shrugged "He scared the pig," Giles turned his head a little to give her a funny look, that's what she was basing this on "well, he did..." she trailed off lamely, she walked towards the cage.

Giles turned full to give Buffy his full attention again "Buffy, boys can be cruel. They tease, they, they, they prey on the weak, I-i-it's natural teen behaviour pattern," he had been one once, it had been a few decades but he still remembered what he had done.

Buffy spun around to face her watcher again "What did you just say?" she held her hands up. If she had heard what she thought he said then she really couldn't believe it. Dawn might be right.

He tried to think of what part she was on about "Um, they tease," he wasn't quite sure but he was guessing it was that.

Not hearing a word her watcher said she carried on as if she was talking to herself "They prey on the weak. I've heard that somewhere bef..." she trailed off. Dawn really was right about it, "Xander and Caitlin have been acting totally wiggy ever since we went to the zoo. They and Kyle and all those guys, they went into the wolves Cave. Oh, God, those howls..." if those howls were Xander and Caitlin then they had snuck back out last night and had been following her.

The watcher was finally following her "You're saying that, uh, Caitlin and Xander are becoming wolves." He wasn't sure that he wanted to believe her, he hadn't really noticed too much of a difference because he hadn't seen too much of them.

"I don't know. Or been possessed by one? Not just Caitlin and Xander, all of them," she would owe Dawn an apology. If Dawn knew about the possession was she the reason that the howls stopped last night, she started to wonder if Dawn snuck out.

Giles didn't want it to be possession because if it was they were in trouble, Possessions were very tricky "Well, I-I-I've cer-certainly never heard of, uh..." his mind was racing and he really couldn't remember if he had heard of something like this.

Willow rushed into the library and stopped beside Buffy, who out a hand on the out of breath girls back "Herbert! They found him," the redhead couldn't believe what she had overheard on her way here, she was just glad she knew it wasn't Caitlin.

Buffy eyebrows pinched together "The pig?" she asked just to clarify. What was so important about the pig that it looked like Willow had literally run all the way here.

The younger teen nodded her head and went on to explain "Dead and also eaten, Principal Flutie's freaking out." Now that she thought about it, Caitlin could have done it, it did seem to be that it wasn't her because the teen was a vegetarian but if something was wrong with her then she could have.

Buffy turned to look at Giles and raised an eyebrow at him "Testosterone, huh?" she couldn't help being a little smug, that would show him for not believing her. Mind you she had done the same to Dawnie; maybe she would buy her some cookies.

The two girls watched as Giles headed for his office, they both frowned in confusion at his behaviour "What're you gonna do?" Willow asked as Giles disappeared into his office. Was he going to be ignoring their evidence?

"Get my books. Look stuff up," Giles voice sounded out from his office to respond to Willow's question. Good he was finally taking this seriously, Buffy huffed internally at him not believing her fully until Willow came in; she started to head towards the office too.

Willow grabbed Buffy's arm as she walked past her, Buffy turned to look at the redhead and noticed the worried look in her eyes "There also maybe the slight problem of an unconscious Caitlin," Willow mumbled under her breath. Buffy blinked, unconscious, she blinked again, her sister. Willow noticed buffy trying to take in the news and quickly went to explain before Buffy flew off of the handle, she was protective of Caitlin after all. "When you left she came and sat next to me, she said hello then dragged me into a classroom. She pushed me onto the desk and started to kiss me, then she put her hand up my top but she was growling Buffy! I thought something was seriously wrong so I hit her with a book," Willow quickly backed away a little.

Buffy frowned, that didn't sound like her sister "Giles!" Buffy called out to her watcher. She pulled Willow into a hug "You did the right thing Willow, Caitlin would have hated herself when she was back to normal," Willow pulled back and looked confused "I think they were possessed by those freaky wolves," Buffy told her as she dragged Willow over to the desk, "Now which room is she in?" she asked her, she tried not to let any panic enter her voice.

"The room opposite the computer lab," Willow responded. She wanted Caitlin to be alright but she had done what she

Giles walked out of his office with some books. Buffy picked up two from his arms and handed them to Willow then headed for the door "Buffy where are you going?" Giles called after her as he sat the books on the desk. Buffy waved him off as she exited the library.

The watcher turned to the redhead "I knocked Caitlin out so Buffy's gone to get her quickly," Willow said with a strained smile. Giles patted her shoulder awkwardly as he picked up one of his own books and started to pace. It wouldn't be good for any of them if they lost both Caitlin and Xander.

~GU:CM~

Buffy ran down the corridor, she couldn't believe her sister had been possessed but what was more unusual was that Dawn had told her it sounded like possession. She would have to have a word with Dawn, where was she finding information about these things and the fact she didn't know worried her. It was one thing for Caitlin to be involved, she did mixed martial arts three times a week and dance twice a week, the teen even managed to fit swimming into her schedule. Caitlin was fit and prepared to fight and could do it easily. Dawn was 10 and did ballet twice a week; she was not going to get involved with this. The Slayer was reluctant to let Caitlin but she needed a little training and Caitlin was more than willing when she had found out. Buffy slowed down, Caitlin hadn't even flinched when Buffy confessed she was a Slayer, in fact Caitlin had gone pale like she knew what that was. She had shaken it off at the time because Caitlin read lots of old texts that Grams, Prue or Mom gave her, she would have to bring it up subtly when Caitlin was better, whenever that was. She stopped outside of the computer lab, opening the door she immediately noticed her sister on the floor. She walked over to her and easily hoisted her up and over her shoulder. Caitlin was going to have one major headache when she woke up later.

~GU:CM~

Willow was sat at the table researching when Buffy came back in with Caitlin draped over her shoulder. The redhead got up and rushed over to Buffy "I didn't kill her did I?" she questions the Slayer in a panicked tone, she hadn't meant to hit Caitlin so hard but she just wanted her to stop. Willow really did like Caitlin but she didn't know if she liked her like that, yet.

Shaking her head Buffy answered "No, she's just unconscious but she must have hit her hard for her to still be unconscious Will," the Slayer wasn't criticising her friend just making the facts known. The blow could have been a lot more dangerous but she was hopeful all her sister would have was a headache when she woke up.

"Good lord," a voice behind them called their attention. Giles was stood looking at Buffy "What happened?" he asked as he approached, he looked truly worried about the unconscious Caitlin that was over her sister's shoulder.

The younger, conscious, girl started to turned red and tried to stutter out a response before Buffy intervened "Caitlin got a bit hands on with Willow, who rightfully freaked out, she ended up with a book to the back of the head." The Slayer walked over to the cage and signalled for Giles to open it. Carefully the older blonde placed the younger blonde down onto the floor, making sure her head was cushioned by her hand so not to slam into the ground "We'll leave her in here so she doesn't get out and cause a scene again. We don't know how bad this thing is and a loose Caitlin would be a bad Caitlin, especially with her training," Buffy explained as she walked back out of the cage, shut the door and locked it. The other two knew what she was referring to; Caitlin was very skilled in Martial Arts. Giles looked at Buffy who had walked over to him and held out the key "Hide this; we don't want one of us opening the cage just because she sounds like Caitlin. Giles nodded his head and took the key; he knew just the place to hide it.

~GU:CM~

Buffy was sat on the stairs behind Willow with a book when Giles came back into the room; he had hid the keys in his office. He didn't want Buffy or Willow unlocking the cage, he had also trying to find other books on possession or wolves in general; "Wow! Apparently Toci eventually rejected the wolves from her service because she thought they were an evil impure mixture of Wolf and magic," Buffy stood up as she read aloud the paragraph she had just read "they were gifted to her service by Clame…Clamecatecuchtoolzee," she tried to say the name, she knew she failed but she hoped they got the idea.

"Chalmecatecuchtlz," Giles corrected, he was impressed that she had even attempted the name; it wasn't exactly an easy name to say when it was written down.

Buffy nodded "Yeah that guy, a God of the underworld," Buffy finished reading the paragraph and made her way back over to the table to let Willow have a look.

Willow picked the book up and had a quick scan at the page, she noticed the picture of a grotesque and deformed Wolf "They weren't well liked then," she said as she pointed the picture to Buffy.

"They do seem to be the schmoes of the Aztecs," Buffy agreed as she took a good look at the picture, there was no way (comes over to Willow)

The young redhead shook her head "Why couldn't they be possessed by a puppies or, or some ducks?" she asked. They were a t a Zoo for goodness sakes, there were less harmless animals to be possessed by like a zebra.

The older teen shrugged not knowing the answer, she really wished it was something else but they had come out of the Cave acting funny and they were growling and snarling, it had to be wolves "That's assuming 'possession' is the right word and Caitlin would rather be possessed by a Wolf than a puppy."

Giles came over to the table and peered at the book "Oh, I'll say it is. The Masai of the Serengeti have spoken of animal possession for, for generations. I... I should have remembered that, so it's only plausible that other animals can so so," now that his mind had cleared, seeing as Buffy was no longer forcing apparent evidence down his throat, he could remember something he had read about before.

"So how does it work?" the Slayer needed to know quickly so she could turn her sister and friend back into their normal selves and not possessed by some animal.

The Watcher leant against the table and flipped through another book that he had picked up, there was some information in there that he wanted the girls to look at. He stopped on the right page and then placed it in front of the teens. Both looked down to the page to read as he explained it "Well, apparently there's a, a sect of animal worshipers known as Primals. They believe that humanity, uh, consciousness, uh, the soul, is a, is a perversion, a dilution of spirit. Uh, to them the animal state is holy. They are able, through trans-possession, to, to, um, draw the spirit of certain animals into themselves."

Both teens look up at Giles but only Buffy spoke "And then they started acting like wolves," it was starting to sound more like someone had brought the wolves to the Zoo on purpose just for that. The possession had been planned.

"Well, only the most predatory of animals are, are of interest to the Primals, so, uh, yes, yes, that would fit, yes," Giles stumbled over his words as he explained. It was a very interesting piece of magic that had done it. He just hoped they could find out how to reverse it. Buffy started to bite one of her nails in concentration, this was so not good.

Fiddling with her hands Willow decides to talk as she noticed buffy wasn't going to "So, what happens to the person once the spirit's in them?" she really didn't want to know because she knew it wouldn't be good but she had to know in order for them to help Caitlin and Xander, even if she was reluctant they had to help Kyle and the gang too.

"If it goes unchecked..." Giles trails off not really wanting to say it out loud, it just made it all the more real if he did, and he didn't want to give them bad news, especially not about Xander and Caitlin.

He takes the book back and flips a few pages and then puts it back down. Buffy took one look before she slammed the book shut and quickly got up to leave. "I gotta find Xander," they already had Caitlin so that was one little bit of worry elevated. Willow opened up the book again to have another look at the page, Willow turned around to look at Caitlin, who was still unconscious, and she couldn't help but worry. On the open page there was a drawing of people with limbs bitten off, heads missing and other massive injuries. They couldn't allow Caitlin to become like that.

As Willow shut the book Caitlin started to regain consciousness, she gripped her head before she even attempted to open her eyes. Last thing she remembered was kissing Willow and then lots of pain, she supposed it was Willow who knocked her out, damn. "God Wills what did you hit me with?" she asked the redhead, she didn't need to open her eyes to know Willow was around. The possessed blonde knew she was in the library due to the smell of dust and musty books.

Willow and Giles jumped at the sound of Caitlin voice, she certainly didn't sound possessed, Caitlin opened her eyes and turned her head to look at the two of them, her eyes flashed gold. Yes she was defiantly possessed.

~GU:CM~

Buffy snuck into the faculty room, where she knew Herbert's cage had been, she had put him in there herself, she looked at the cage and saw that it had been mangled, Buffy came closer and looked around, making sure that they weren't back. She inspected the cage, it had been torn apart and there were even bits of Herbert on the edges of the wires that had been torn open. "They are strong," Buffy whispered, seeing the torn flesh was making her feel a little queasy so she started to step back but stopped when she heard a crunch, she turned and crouched down to the floor. She found parts of Herbert, some vertebrae and other bones. Buffy picked up one of the ribs, she was so focused on what was in front of her she didn't hear Xander entering and standing behind her. Putting down the rib Buffy stood up and turned to leave, only to be startled by Xander and his close presence "Xander," she said his name and tried to get around him but he seemed to be able to match her speed and movements. She huffed as she stilled a little "This is ridiculous. We need to talk," She faked him out and jumped on him, knocking him down with her on top holding down his arms.

Xander chuckled as he easily flipped their positions, Xander easily pinned the Slayer to the floor. He took a deep breath and smiled "Been waitin' for you to jump my bones," he leant in and sniffed her, she smelt good.

"Get off of me," it was a clear warning and she didn't struggle as she didn't want to encourage him. She didn't know how the Aztecs hunted so even if she stayed still it could be dangerous.

Whilst Buffy was thinking Xander was going to try and eat her. Xander was thinking of all the ways he was going to mate with her, his favourite so far was her on her hands and knees, clearly the Wolf was strong in him.: Is that what you really want? We both know what you really want. You want danger, don't cha? You like your men dangerous," Buffy started to struggle a bit as she realised that he wasn't hunting her in the sense she had thought. He wanted her as a mate. Xander put a bit more of his body on hers to keep her trapped under him. He transferred her hands into one of his so the other could roam her body.

Struggling to get free Buffy tried to reason with Xander "You're in trouble, Xander. You are infected with some Wolf thing; it's like a demonic possession!" she didn't want to have to hurt him but she would if it meant she could get away.

Xander growled and pushed his body down harder, he had her and he was not going to let her go "Dangerous and mean, right?" he asked before licking her neck, he was going to enjoy marking that "Like Angel your Mystery Guy. Well, guess who just got mean," he bit down on her neck. Buffy winced but refused to show him anything. "Do you know how long..." he licked her neck "I've waited..." he eased his hand up her thigh, closer and closer to her private area "until you'd stop pretending that we aren't attracted..." Buffy threw him off of her by brings up her thigh into his side, she was glad when he rolled off taking his wandering hands with him. Buffy jumped up quickly and faced him, keeping a close eye on him. Xander got up too and begun to approach her, she backed away from him trying to stay out of his grasp. Xander smirked predatorily as he took another deep breath, he loved how her scent was getting stronger "Until Willow... stops kidding herself... that I could settle with anyone but you?" he asked her as he continued to approach.

Buffy knew this was not going to end well "Look, Xander, I don't wanna hurt you..." before she could finish talking he lunged. She tried to dodge him but he was quicker, quicker than he had been earlier. It was almost as if he were evolving before her eyes.

The possessed teen grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her against the vending machine, she struggled to move so he pushed his leg in between her legs catching her in her most intimate spot. Buffy stopped moving, she knew if she moved she would moan and she couldn't let him think she was reciprocating his affections "Now do you wanna hurt me?" he asked as she leant in to run his nose against her neck, specifically where he had bitten her. Buffy started to struggle but Xander was too strong and she had to swallow a moan "Come on, Slayer. I like it when you're scared, the more I scare you and the more you move the better you smell," he took a long inhale before exhaling. Xander locked eyes with Buffy and she watched as his eyes flashed gold, which was not good. He moved in and kissed her roughly but Buffy brought her head forward, catching him nicely on his head. Xander moved back and it gave Buffy time to move, Xander grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Buffy grabbed the first thing she could and swung it at him.

~GU:CM~

Willow was watching a mini documentary on wolves and their behaviour, it probably would be exactly like the Aztec wolves but it was close enough. She looked over at Caitlin who was watching her and gave a shy smile; she hated the fact that she had knocked her unconscious. Caitlin's retuning smile at Willow seemed feral and she even added a wink. The older teen blushed and turned to face the screen she looked up when she heard the door open and stopped the playback. She saw Buffy dragging Xander into the library. "Hurry up. We gotta get him locked up somehow before he comes to," Buffy said as she approached the cage.

"Oh, my God!" Willow jumped up from her seat and rushed over to them "What happened?" she asked as she peered down at Xander and noticed that his forehead was bright red.

Buffy shrugged "I hit him," she responded and made her way into Giles's office "I need the keys," Buffy's voice could her heard from the office.

Willow met Caitlin's eyes; Caitlin had stood up and was peering at them with a raised brow "With what?" Willow asked turning back around to Buffy. Buffy threw the keys at

Buffy rolled her eyes as if she were exasperated "A desk," it was the first thing she could reach to stop him before he progressed to rape. It was going to be awkward when Xander was really Xander again. Caitlin narrowed her eyes at Buffy's dishevelled state; she was going to kill him "Caitlin please stay in there," buffy said nicely and they waited for her response. Caitlin stepped back and put her hands in her pockets. Willow opened the cage door, and Buffy dragged him in. Caitlin walked further back, her eyes flashing gold every couple of seconds, clearly she was fighting the possession.

"He tried his hand at felony sexual assault," Buffy answered the unasked question of why she hit him. Caitlin growled and stepped forward, Buffy looked at her thinking it was her she was growling at but Caitlin's eyes were fixed to Xander's unconscious form.

The redhead looked at Caitlin and knew a little of what Buffy was feeling, Caitlin had tried something with her too "Oh, Buffy, the Wolf in him didn't..." She trailed off not knowing how to explain his behaviour more than that.

The two managed to arrange him on the floor of the cage alongside a silent Caitlin who was stood watching, Buffy smiled at her sister a little but Caitlin didn't smile back, Buffy hadn't really expected her too. "No, but it's safe to say that in his animal state his idea of wooing doesn't involve a Yanni CD and a bottle of Chianti," Buffy explains as she walked out of the cage behind willow before making sure the cage was locked behind her. "There, that oughtta hold him, Caitlin be careful with him" Caitlin raised a brow at her sister as she approached the front of the cage but didn't verbal respond "Where's Giles?" Buffy asked as she made her way back to the office to put the key back.

Willow called after her "He got called to some teacher's meeting. What are we gonna do? I mean... how do we get them back?" she asked and watched as Buffy came back to the cage and put her fingers over Caitlin's fingers in the bars. Even when her sister was possessed Buffy was still affectionate, it was sweet.

Caitlin tilted her head as she looked at Buffy's neck, she could see a bite mark and knew it was from Xander "He marked you," she stated before looking down at the unconscious male. Oh yeah he was in trouble.

The sister knew it wasn't a question but she answered it anyways "Yes he did," she saw Caitlin's eyes flash and knew she would no longer hold her sisters attention. Giles walked slowly into the library, catching everyone's attention "But right now I'm a little more worried about what the rest of the pack are up to."

Giles knew the answer to that and spoke up "The rest of the pack were spotted outside Herbert the mascot's cage. They were sent to the principal's office," he hated how much death the teenagers were surrounded by. He hated that Sunnydale was a Hellmouth.

Willow nodded "Good! That'll show 'em," Willow noticed how Giles didn't nod with her and remained silent "Did it show 'em?" she asked, she did want them to get taught a lesson after all they were bullies and now they were possessed bullies.

Observing Giles exhaling but remaining silent, Buffy knew he was searching for what to say to them "They didn't hurt him, did they?" she asked, she felt her sister grip the bars tighter under her fingers.

"They ate him," Caitlin piped up from where she had turned back to focused on the group, Willow had to sit down at that news and Caitlin leant against the cage, obviously wanting to comfort her.

Buffy couldn't believe what she just heard "They ate Principal Flutie?" she asked in a whisper. It was one thing to eat a pig but to actually eat the Principal, who was a human being.

The middle teen knew that they had eaten the pig and knew that when wolves became braver they went for larger animals and humans if they were isolated but she just couldn't believe possessed humans would still eat humans "Ate him up?" she asked just to clarify after she sat down, she didn't want to believe it.

Giles wasn't really surprised Caitlin knew what they had done, she could probably feel the instinct to hunt "The, uh, official theory is that wild dogs got into his office somehow. There was no one at the scene,"

Turning to the cage Xander spoke up "But Xander didn't," she glanced at Buffy as she finished talking "He, he was with you," that was a small justice to them that neither of Xander nor Caitlin had been involved in eating a human.

Giles walked further in and saw Xander in the cage with Caitlin "Oh! Uh, well, that's a small mercy," he already knew Caitlin hadn't been involved because the teen had been sat peacefully when the message came through.

Said teen nudged Xander with the side of her foot but he didn't react, Buffy must have swung the table hard "he ate that pig though," she said as she looked at the others outside of the cage.

The Watcher rubbed the back of his neck "you didn't?" he wasn't questioning her but it seemed odd how she wouldn't eat it. Caitlin just narrowed her eyes at him, she felt like he was questioning and that didn't sit well with her.

Knowing that her sister had stonewalled Giles, Buffy decided to get back on track "Giles, how do we stop this? How do you trans-possess someone?" she did not want her sister to or Xander to end up killing people. She certainly didn't want to have to kill them, she just wouldn't be able to. Caitlin started to growl, clearly the Wolf was not impressed.

Focusing his attention back to Buffy, Giles answered almost reluctantly "I-I'm afraid I still don't have all the pieces. Um, the accounts of the Primals and their methods are a bit thin on the ground. There is some talk of a-a-a predatory act, but the exact ritual is, is, um... " Giles stopped as he went over to the table and picked up a book, the information should be in there "The Malleus Maleficarum deals in particulars of demonic possession, which... may apply..." He expertly flipped through the pages quickly, he got the page he wanted and had a quick read "Yes, one, one should be able to transfer the spirits to another human."

Buffy gave Giles a sarcastic smile, Caitlin recognised it and started to chuckle, the Watcher looked between the two identical sisters "Oh, that's great. Any volunteers?" the sarcasm was thick in the Slayers voice. Caitlin leant against the cage and started laughing loudly, there was just something about her sisters being sarcastic and seemingly annoyed that made her want to laugh. Anyone would think it were a Wolf that possessed her.

"Oh. Good point," Giles flushed in embarrassment, he hadn't really thought about what he was saying, he didn't really know anyone who would willingly take a possession from another person.

"What we need to do is put the Wolf back in the Wolf," Buffy stated to her Watcher. She was fed up of not knowing what to do, this was beyond any of their understandings and it was frustrating her.

The Librarian frowned at the student "B-but until we know more, uh..." he was reluctant to do anything until he knew more. He did understand what was at stake but it could be so much worse if they did the wrong thing.

Shrugging at Giles; the Slayer looked at her sister for a few seconds; turning to look at her watcher she spoke "Betcha that zookeeper could tell us. Maybe he didn't quarantine those Wolfs because they were sick," Willow and herself had met him at the Zoo and he had really been determined not to let anyone in there, she got the feeling he knew something more.

Nodding he started to the library doors "We should talk to him," Giles opened the library door waiting for Buffy to leave with him.

Buffy headed after her Watcher "Okay," she stopped as she caught her sisters golden eyes. Buffy locked eyes and noticed that her sister's eyes held hardly any recognition of her. She wasn't sure when her sisters eyes had stayed golden but she knew it was going to mean she was the Wolf more and more from this point on wards. They were running out of time, she was going to need to stay and watch them; she didn't know what Xander would be like "Oh, wait, somebody's gotta watch them."

The redhead jumped up from her position "I will," she had noticed that Caitlin's eyes hadn't gone back to her expressive forest green eyes, Willow was worried about this but she had a feeling Caitlin wouldn't hurt her.

"Will, are you sure? If he wakes up..." for some reason Buffy wasn't worried about Caitlin but what Xander would do when he woke up. She knew wolves had alphas and beta, how could she not with Caitlin around, she wasn't sure who was who but she had a suspicion the fight last night was for the position and Caitlin had won.

Putting her finger through the bars they all watched as Caitlin calmed as Willow touched her "I'll be alright. Go," Willow said. After a moment's hesitation Buffy gave Willow a nodded and the looked at the cage before grabbing her coat. Willow watched them leave and then looked at Caitlin in the cage. "You'd better behave yourself," Willow playfully threatened Caitlin who just smiled at her. Releasing Caitlin's fingers Willow walked back over to the computer to watch about wolves.

~GU:CM~

Xander slowly started to wake up, Caitlin peered down at him but did nothing to help him, she was pissed at him after, Caitlin peered down at him but did nothing to help him, and she was pissed at him after all. Xander pulled himself into a sat position; he noticed Caitlin in the cage with him and sneered. He no longer cared she was his alpha, she was stopping all the fun. Caitlin sneered at him too but didn't otherwise react; Xander wasn't strong enough to win against her. "Willow," Xander called before he had even spotted her, the strawberry scent that he knew was Willow was rather thick around the cage.

Willow turned as she heard her name being called, she was still watching the Wolf video; she stopped it when she found him awake "How are you feeling?" she asked him gently. She knew Caitlin wouldn't hurt her but she was not sure about Xander, he had before.

"Like somebody hit me with a desk," well he still remember what happened so that was good not too much damage to the brain. Caitlin snorted in humour; she was going to find that funny for a while. Xander looked around ignoring the bitch if an Alpha "What am I doin' here?" he asked his long-time friend. He couldn't believe he was locked up with Caitlin of all people.

Willow slowly got and up and made her way over to the cage, she wouldn't get too close, who knows what Xander would do "You're... resting?" she asked more than answered his question. She knew he was going to be angry she just knew it. Caitlin leant her back against the cage; she was still sat down and had made no plans to move unless he acted aggressively.

Xander stood up and walked to the cage door and tried it, his eyes flashed as he looked over at Willow "You guys got me locked up now," not a question just an annoyed observation. Caitlin leapt to her feet and kept her golden eyes focused on him, the insolent teen knew she was in charge because of her eyes. Something in him had snapped when he tried to get with her sister, Xander blamed her for his failure to mate with Buffy.

"'Cause you're sick. Buffy said..." Willow tried to explain what was wrong with him but he didn't allow her to as he hit the door with his hand. That was the response she had expected from Caitlin, they had almost got it but it didn't make sense as to why Caitlin calmed down.

He interrupted her little excuse "Oh, yeah. Buffy and her all-purpose solution: punch 'em out 'n' knock 'em down. I'd love to see what she'd do to somebody who was *really* sick,"

Willow shook her head at both Xander and Caitlin who had moved to lunge at him "That's not fair. Buffy saved both of our lives," she defended her friend and hoped to calm Xander down before Caitlin attacked.

"Before she came here our lives didn't need that much saving; did they? Weren't things a lot simpler when it was just you and me?" He needed to know if she was on his side or those blonde bimbos. She had been his friend the longest, so she should side with him.

Willow moved closer to the cage but made sure to stay closer to "Maybe..." she wasn't sure where he was going with this so she wasn't confirming to anything. Yes things were simpler but she hated her life back then, now she had friends who appreciated her. She didn't mean that in a bad way but Xander just never got her and she didn't mind that but she was now understood and it was nice.

Xander growled at Caitlin who stood up straight, she wasn't going to lunge at him, yet. "When we were alone together... Willow, I know there's something wrong with me. I think it's gettin' worse. But I can't just stand around waitin' for Buffy to decide it's time to punch me out again," he exhaled and glanced at Caitlin again, time to annoy her "Look, I want you to help me, I want you."

Stepping closer Willow managed to touch Caitlin's back to calm her down "I am helping you," Willow responded but she wasn't going to acknowledge the last bit of his speech, she knew he had never wanted her and him saying it actually hurt. Caitlin sneered at the insolent Beta but made no move to show him who was Alpha.

The possessed male exhaled and looked at Willow sympathetically "You're doing what you're told," he said it as if Willow had no control over what she did. She was under control just like he had been, he had realised when he saw Buffy and had been faster and stronger than her that he didn't need to be afraid of her or her no good sister. He had been freed.

"Buffy's trying to help you, too, you know that or Xander does," Willow refused to rise to his baiting, it was a little funny for her to see Caitlin getting more agitated at it that she did. She liked this side of Caitlin; it was nice to be defended. Willow just didn't need Caitlin to be possessed to be interested, unlike Xander.

Caitlin bared her teeth as Xander approached, she pushed him back and he hit the bookcase, causing a few thick books to fall to the floor "Don't kid yourself Willow, there has to be something there for the possession to either take or twist. I would say jealousy is what the Wolf took over."

"Yeah what would yours be Caitlin, being Crazy seems the most logical. You aren't right in the head," Xander taunted but felt frustrated as all Caitlin did was raise an eyebrow at him. he hated that he couldn't bait her, he'd have to use the next best thing, Willow. He focused his attention back on his redheaded friend "...Buffy's so selfless always thinking of us. Well, if I'm so dangerous, how come she left you alone with me?" he asked with a tilt of his head. The blonde narrowed her eyes and noticed he was copying what she usually did, trying to make Willow feel safe.

She noticed the tilted head but ignored it as she responded "I told her to," Willow might not know what was going on with Xander but he was still her friend and deserved the truth. She didn't like how Xander was acting, it was unnerving.

Xander raised an eyebrow "Why?" he asked her gently. There might be hope for her yet, she might actually make a good little Beta but he would have to get rid of his nuisance first.

The golden eyes blonde snorted again, she did that a lot Willow noted, she was amused at Xander's game. He was trying to get Willow onto his side and use her against her "Buffy knows your no match for me Xander; the only way you would win would be by cheating."

"'Cause I know you better than she does... and I wanted to be here to see if... you were still you," Willow quickly followed up Xander's question to try and stop them from fighting; she could sense the animosity in the air between the two. They had been really close earlier and now they couldn't stand each other's presence.

The two who were locked in the cage stared at each other; it was a silent communication of a challenge. Caitlin was more than willing to beat Xander and put him in his place, Xander ignored her in favour of trying to win Willow over "You know I am, look at me," Caitlin looked at Willow and noticed the redhead actually staring at Xander "Looook," Xander said again.

Willow moved even closer but still more towards Caitlin. She looked at Xander and noticed his eyes were normal, they hadn't flashed in a while "Xander..." she whispered. She hoped it really was Xander; Caitlin had golden eyes but still seemed to be more herself just with animalistic tendencies. Xander moved closer to the cage door and smirked as Caitlin allowed him, clearly Willow wanted him closer and so Caitlin had allowed it, perfect. He smiled at her to keep her calm, as he got close enough he made a grab for her through the book return slot in the cage. Willow had been on guard and jumped back in time, she hadn't known what to expect but she knew not to be disappointed if he tried something. "Now I know," she said as she made sure to stay far enough away.

Xander started to thump the cage door "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!" he screamed at her. Caitlin had had enough and lunged; she wrapped her arms around his waist and used the momentum to throw him away from the cage. Xander hit the wall with a thud; he recovered quickly and speared her around the waist. They both crashed into the cage, Willow jumped and was shocked into silence again. Caitlin recovered a little quicker than Xander and brought her elbow down onto Xander's back, he groaned but lifted Caitlin up over his shoulder, he moved and dropped her. Caitlin landed a little awkwardly but she still managed to catch her balance, she brought her leg out and tripped him. Xander landed on the floor and cracked his headed on the floor; he grabbed it and rolled onto his side. Caitlin stood up and just peered at him, he didn't get up again so Caitlin turned to see if Willow was alright. Willow saw Xander grab a thick hardback book and stumble to his feet, the redhead pointed to Xander but it was too late. Xander wielded the book like a bat and swung it at Caitlin's head, the impact knocked her to the side and out cold "now try and stop me," he sneered at his Alpha's unconscious form. He hadn't won Alpha status because he had cheated but it still felt like a victory to him.

"Xander what did you do!" Willow exclaimed as she approached the cage but stopped before she got too close, she wanted to check on Caitlin but she couldn't get closer because Xander would grab her. She couldn't understand his behaviour.

The brunette male switched his view from Caitlin to Willow "I knocked the annoying bitch out, what did you think I did," his previous gentle voice had disappeared and was replaced by the voice that had cut into her in the halls earlier. Willow just shook her head and moved back over to the computer, she could do nothing for Caitlin until they were de-possessed.

Willow waited for Caitlin to know, even though she knew the younger teen wouldn't "I can't believe you did that. Xander what is wrong with you!" she shouted and waved her arms out in front of her. Xander opened his mouth to reply but Willow shook her head "Actually No I don't want to know why. You did it, it's too late," Willow said downheartedly. She turned her back to him and made her way back to the computer, she could do nothing for Caitlin apart from keep herself calm so she doesn't set Xander off.

~GU:CM~

He was bored, bored and annoyed. Willow was ignoring him and Caitlin was still unconscious, he was proud of his swing if she was still unconscious after 40 minutes. He had tried to talking to Willow but she wasn't happy with him, not that he cared but he was becoming restless. He peered out of the window and noticed it was a perfect night for a hunt. He decided to try again "Willow..." he started but was quickly shut down when she held up her hand.

Willow had taken to stopping him non-verbally "I'm not listening," she repeated for what felt like the hundredth time. She was not going to speak to him after he brutally knocked out Caitlin; he was such a sore loser and always had been. That thought made Willow stop, Caitlin had mentioned something like that; there was always something to twist or take. She realised Caitlin was right but she wondered how she knew that, she seemed to know a lot about this sort of thing. Before she could think more into it she heard her name being called, she sighed at Xander's relentlessness. Continuing to watch the clip she tried to concentrate but she heard her name being called again, that was it "Xander shut up!" she shouted and heard her name being called again but didn't see his lips move, they only turned up in a smirk. She looked up at the window where the sound was coming from to see the other members of the pack.

Kyle and Heidi kicked in the windows; Willow quickly got up and ran from the library. The pack looked at Xander and then to the body on the floor before looking back at Xander "Forget about her, we can be free if you just get me out of here!" Xander started to kick and pound at the door. Kyle quickly came over and started to help, Caitlin was a good Alpha but she wanted rules and order and that was no fun. Kyle managed to bend a corner of the cage door. The other three quickly came over and started to rip the door off its hinges. The door was quick to come off under the strain of five enhanced possessed humans. Tor and Heidi whine and start to go over to the unconscious Catlin, Xander growled at them and they are quick to retreat back to him, they didn't want to be punished. Caitlin was their Alpha but they agreed with Xander they wanted to be free from rules, the four lower member of the pack start to whine and sniff Xander. The now in charge male soaked up the attention and sniffed the air, he was going to get Willow and make her obey him.

She knew she was in trouble as she rushed down the hallway, it was late and most of the classrooms would be locked so hiding could be impossible, she would not be able to outrun them. Willow came to an intersection and turned left, she knew this was near Caitlin's locker, she hoped the Alpha scent would throw them off of her scent. The redhead was not stupid and she knew enough about wolves to know they were excellent trackers. She tried one of the classes near Caitlin's locker but found them locked. She managed to find a classroom opposite Caitlin's locker and quickly ducked into the room and rushed over to the desk, she noticed it was the same room Caitlin had taken them in earlier. She hoped the scent would throw them off.

The pack reached the hall intersection, Willow's scent was strong and easy to follow; they all slowed down to a jog and continued to sniff around for Willow's scent. Xander noticed the scent went a few ways; they weren't far enough along to be able to tell what a fresh scent was and what an old scent was. Xander motioned for them to split up; luckily they didn't need to know as they had five of them to her one. They would find her.

Willow tried to calm her breathing and regulate her heart, she wasn't sure how could their hearing would be. She froze as she heard the door opening; footsteps sounded from the door and approached the desk, she held her breath as the person stood still. She released her breath when the footsteps sounded back towards the door; Willow remained under the desk for a little while before venturing out. She peered over to the door and screamed when she saw Xander stood there, she realised that her back was pressed against the wall, that wasn't good. Xander growled and leapt over the desk and stood in front of her, Willow rushed around the desk and tipped a few student desks over as she rushed to the door. Xander kicked the desks out of the way and rushed after Willow, he noticed Heidi had stopped Willow and chuckled at his friend's predicament. Xander rose his grab the younger teen but found himself flat on his back.

Caitlin lifted herself up from Xander and growled. Caitlin had woken up as the pack had left the library but hadn't managed to get herself up, Buffy had rushed into the library and found her sister cradling her head, swearing she was going to castrate the no good male. Buffy had lifted her sister to her feet and used Caitlin to guide her to where the others were. Buffy came up behind Heidi, who still had hold of Willow, she hit her on the back with a fire extinguisher, Heidi fell to the floor unconscious. Caitlin pushed Willow in Buffy's direction before grappling with Xander again, giving the others a chance to run.

Giles waved the girls over "Run!" he shouted, the three other pack members appeared at the end of the hallway but stopped as Caitlin reared her head back and howled. She was technically still Alpha of the area, even if they had gone rogue, they were asking for a fight if they got to close. Caitlin spun Xander around and let him go, he slid along the floor and bowled into the others. Caitlin spun and rushed after her sister and friend.

Giles and Willow rushed into the classroom that Willow had hidden in. Buffy waited for her sister to come in before closing the door and locking it. The pack had regained itself and Xander had growled at their disobedience, they sprinted to the door and started to pound on it. Caitlin got into a defensive position and growled at the pack members; one by one they stopped until it was just Xander left. Xander noticed she still held influence over the pack; he spun on his heel and left, the pack hesitantly following him. Buffy noticed they seemed to be wary of Caitlin "I think they're going," she peered out of the window.

"They could be faking it," Willow cautioned the Slayer just in case she went to unlock the door. Caitlin relaxed her stance and slumped over; she relaxed her forearms against her legs and almost buckled over. Giles managed to steady her in time.

Buffy shot Giles a grateful smile before becoming serious again "No, they're hungry. They'll be looking for somebody weak. I'm really sorry, Will, I didn't know they were gonna come after Xander and Caitlin. Caitlin what happened?" Buffy asked her worn out sister. The poor teen had been knocked over the head and knocked out twice in one day, no wonder she was tired.

Caitlin shook her head and then grabbed it with a growl; Willow took up the conversation "I'm okay. Xander managed to knock her out with a book," Willow saw the darkening in Buffy's eyes and feared for Xander's safety until they went back to normal.

The possessed teen managed to ward off the headache and impending darkness "Yeah the Vampyr tome hurts," she complained with a huff and her chest started to rumble as Buffy gently massages her sister's head. The Slayer wasn't conscious of what she was doing but the younger sister sure enjoyed it. Her eyes dipped and struggled to stay open.

"We must lead them back to the zoo if we're going to stop this," he was glad the zookeeper had been so forthcoming about what he knew; he even agreed to set up the ritual. It would be good to have an expert doing this; he didn't want to mess it up.

Nodding Buffy agreed with him "and before their next meal, guess that's my job," the older blonde stopped her ministrations and the younger blonde growled in annoyance. Willow couldn't suppress the giggle she let out; it seemed like Caitlin had been possessed by a puppy, she wasn't like the others. Giles seemed nervous and fidgety when he spoke up next "Well, individually they're almost as strong as you. As a group they're..."

Buffy cut Giles off, she knew what he was thinking "They're tough, but I think they're getting stupider," Caitlin's hackles raised as Buffy's insinuation "no offence," Buffy added and Caitlin focused on the board, thinking "You guys go to the zoo and I will bring them to you," Buffy ordered as she unlocked the door. Cautiously she opened the door and made sure it was clear before making her way out and heading after the pack. Caitlin whipped her head to look at where Buffy had left and slowly made her way after her, she knew Buffy could look after herself but it was her rogue pack and therefore her responsibility.

~GU:CM~

Buffy knew that Caitlin was following her, she wasn't sure what Caitlin was doing but she was going to irritate the Wolf and tell Caitlin what she could and couldn't do, it was safer for all of them if she allowed Caitlin to do what she wanted to, within reasons obviously. Buffy came to a halt at an intersection and had no idea which way to go, so far there had been signs as to where they were going but it seemed like they had realised they could be followed that way and had stopped. Caitlin must have realised what Buffy was struggling with because she took point and started to run straight ahead. The Slayer mentally slapped her forehead, of course Caitlin could tell where her pack where, she could scent them! Buffy made sure to keep up with Caitlin. They didn't run long before they could hear a women screaming, they noticed the pack had surrounded the car. With a feral growl Caitlin launched herself off of the ground and tackled Kyle around the roof.

Xander ignored the noise in favour of getting the child; always go for the weak, put up less of a struggle. Xander snapped at the woman as she tried to slap Xander's hands away from her son. He bared his teeth but the mother was not dissuaded from trying to save her son. Damn parents. "Joey! Joey! Joey!" the mother cried as she contended with Xander in trying to get to her son.

Buffy came running up seconds after Caitlin had body tackled Kyle from the roof, the Slayer grabbed Rhonda and threw her off of the hood to the ground. Needing higher ground for attention Buffy climbed to the roof and, she looked down at Xander's feet sticking out of the window. As the mother cried again Caitlin got to her feet and turned on Xander "Didn't your mom teach you? Don't play with your food," Buffy nodded her head to Caitlin who gripped Xander's legs and pulled in forcefully from the window, she didn't care that this caused the broken to scratch the skin from his chest on his way out. The pack gathered around Xander and looked up at Buffy; they were too scared to look at the Alpha. Buffy straightened up at their attention and put her hands on her hips, she was trying not to show fear, she had just witnessed her sister pull a nearly fully grown male, who weighted a lot more than she did, from a car with ease. It made her wonder what the males could do, their eyes weren't actually golden though. "C'mon, you know what you want," Buffy taunted before she launched herself from the car and started to run down the street. Caitlin rushed after her sister, appearing weak to the others and they gave chase to the two sisters. Xander wanted Caitlin to fight him for Alpha position; he wanted the pack to watch him beat her.

Caitlin easily caught up to her sister and gripped her hand, Buffy noticed Caitlin starting to pull ahead and easily kept pace with her. Buffy shot Caitlin a confused look "see what the Slayer can do," Caitlin said as they quickly gained ground on the pack. Buffy quickly directed Caitlin through the trees; she needed to give Giles and Willow more time. She didn't want to get to the Zoo too early because it meant having to fight the five pack members off and even with Caitlin the odds were not in their favour. Even with adding the scenic route Buffy feared they were too early as they entered the Zoo.

~GU:CM~

Willow paced outside of the wolves Cave, she had thought they would be here by now, she didn't even know if the sister's had found the rest of the pack. She was back to thinking about what Caitlin had said earlier, she had spoken like she had known what possession was, almost like she had personal experience. She didn't know much about Caitlin's past, she knew they had lived in La; she knew that they had family in San Francisco and that Caitlin had a different last name Buffy and Dawn. She deduced that Caitlin was a half-sister on the mother's side as she loved with Ms Summers. She knew Caitlin usually went by Caitlin McKenzie-Halliwell when she could. Her thoughts were disrupted by the sound of rushed footsteps. She spun and rushed into the Cave "They're almost here! Giles! Giles!" Willow stopped short when she saw only the creepy Zookeeper "Where are the wolves for the trans-possession?" Willow asked as she peered over her shoulder, they were getting closer.

The Zookeeper pointed over his shoulder "They're right here in the feeding area," he replied as she continued to look out of the Cave. Willow walked over to look at the where he had pointed just to get away from him, he stopped her before she got too far. "Stay back! They haven't been fed," that was never a good sign

"Where's Giles?" Willow asked as she peered around to look for her mentor. She did not want to be stuck with the crazy man.

"He's... laying in wait," the Zookeeper responded cryptically. Warning lights started to flash in Willow's head. She knew they needed him but she would feel better if she weren't alone with him.

Willow turned around as she heard the footsteps getting closer "They're almost here. Shouldn't you bring the Wolfs out?" she asked desperately trying to get away from the Zookeeper, who was now eyeing her up.

The Zookeeper was getting annoyed with all of the questions, he would not be questioned by someone who did not know about the legends behind these magnificent wolves, it was impossible for them to still be alive but there they were,:" When the time is right," he managed to refrain from sounding too annoyed but he noticed the distrust in her eyes "I'm gonna need your help," he grabbed her and started to bind her wrists before she could struggle away from him. Once her wrists were bound he pulled her against his chest.

Buffy rushed into the Cave first, Caitlin brought up the rear and noticed they pack were in fact gaining on them, they must have gained ground when Buffy and herself slowed down slightly. "They're right behind me!" Buffy called out just to warn Willow, Giles and the Zookeeper.

Facing the Cave entrance Willow struggled to free herself, this was so not good "That's Buffy! Buffy!" Willow called and tried not to panic as she saw the Zookeeper bring out a knife "What is that?" Willow asked, she clearly knew what it was but decided to buy some time and act dumb.

"A predatory act, remember? To show that I am Alpha and obey me to get the spell done," He brought the knife up to Willow's throat. Oh she knew she was in trouble now. She tried not to struggle but it was scary to be held at knife point.

Willow looked up at the Zookeeper in disbelief, Alpha's were appointed when the previous Alpha died and the eldest offspring took over or when the Alpha lost in a fight "Uh, right. You'll pretend to slash my throat and, and put the evil in the wolves?" She was still playing dumb, she needed Caitlin and Buffy or Giles very badly at the moment.

Raising his eyebrow the Zookeeper replied "Something like that," he couldn't believe that she was this stupid. How easy the gullible were, especially this redhead.

Nodding her head Willow turned back to the entrance of the Cave and shouted was loud as possible, "It's a trap!" she heard faltered footsteps for a few seconds but Buffy and Caitlin rushed into the room. Xander leapt at Caitlin, the rest of the pack leapt at Buffy.

The Zookeeper watched the blonde and brunette grappling and realised one of them was the Alpha. He held up his Aztec relic and started to chant in the dead Aztec language. The Pack look over to him and their eyes flashed golden, the Zookeepers flashed golden. Caitlin kicked Xander away from her and turned onto her stomach with a grunt. The Zookeeper chucked the knife away from him and twisted Willow's head painfully to the side and moved to bite her neck

Xander watched as the Zookeepers teeth got closer to his friends neck "Willow!" he shouted and scrambled to his feet. He got a good angle of the Zookeeper and pushed him, knocking him down, as he grabbed Willow and pulled her away from his grasp. The gang crawl off of Buffy, allowing her to get up, buffy quickly got up and dragged Willow further away from the fight. The possessed Zookeeper got up and swung at Xander, catching him nicely on the jaw. Buffy approached the fight and took a swing at the Zookeeper. Kyle and his gang take the opportunity to get up and run from the Cave. The Zookeeper lunged at Buffy but Caitlin grabbed her arm and pulled her down and out of the way of the attack. The Zookeeper charged again but Buffy ducked slightly and used the momentum to flip the zookeeper onto his back. He got up again and charged the Slayer but she pushed him away, Caitlin took his backwards momentum and swung her leg across the floor to trip him up. The speed of his momentum caused him to hit the railing and flip over it into the wolves den. The zookeeper tried to climb up but the wolves gripped his legs and yanked him back down. Buffy ran over to the feeding area to see if she could save the zookeeper but she was too late as the wolves were dragging his body into their sleeping area. Caitlin had been looking into the area but had not witnessed the man's death as she had been staring into the eyes of the black and golden Aztec Wolf; she ignored what was going on behind her in favour of looking at what had possessed her. The Wolf really was majestic, the Wolf tilted its head down in a nod and Caitlin did the same.

Rushed footsteps sounded from the restricted area, Giles appeared and looked around "Uh, did I miss anything?" he asked as he noticed it was just his charges in the room. Buffy and Willow nodded at him, he slumped against the wall "To be fair I was knocked unconscious," he made an excuse just to not look like he had been slacking.

"Caitlin has been knocked out twice today and she's here," Willow pointed out just to see him stammer. She was picking up bad habits from the sisters but it was funny to see the Watcher so flustered. On cue the Watcher started to stammer and took of his glasses to clean them. Caitlin grinned as she heard what Willow had said but still looked at the Wolf.

Xander looked between all of them, he appeared to be confused "Does someone want to tell me what is going on?" Xander's question sounded as confused as his face looked, only when Xander questioned what had happened did Caitlin look away. The Wolf took the time to turn and leave for the sleeping area to enjoy some food; they had been starved for too long thanks to the Zookeeper.

The other three looked at Xander as well "You don't remember?" Giles, ever the Watcher, asked seeming intrigued. Xander just shook his head "Well why don't we get on it in the morning," he signalled for them to leave, the teenagers stayed silent as they followed Giles.

~GU:CM~

It had been a quite night after Caitlin had apologised to her family. She had done it when they had been alone so she didn't attract attention. Joyce had asked why and Caitlin had just shrugged saying she was in a typical teen mood, her mother had chuckled and hugged her before heading off to cook dinner. Dawn had just smiled and waved it off saying she knew because she had been possessed. Caitlin had lectured Dawn about going into her books but had then kissed her forehead and thanked her. Caitlin had led on Buffy's bed whilst the older sister had told her what had happened the last few days, the younger blonde had nodded and grimaced at the feel if her head, Buffy had pulled a face and told her she had been knocked out twice. Caitlin told Buffy it must have sucked; they both laughed and settled in for the night. When Caitlin woke that morning Dawn had somehow wormed her way between them and their mother stood at the door with a camera in her hand. The morning had been just like any other morning and it was just what Caitlin needed. Joyce had driven the girls to school that morning and the two sisters were quick to meet up with Willow and Xander.

They headed off towards class "I heard the vice-principal's taking over till they can find a replacement," Willow informed the group, she was feeling a little down that Caitlin couldn't remember what she had done but she ultimately thought it was for the best anyway.

"It shouldn't be too hard to find a new principal," commented as they head up to the second floor, taking the outside stairs as it was less busy. Buffy frowned in though and added to her previous statement "Unless they ask what happened to the last one."

Xander nodded "Okay, but I had nothing to do with that, right?" he asked just to clarify. Willow had told him what had happened, what she knew of anyway, he had seemed genuinely appalled by his behaviour, which relaxed Willow.

Buffy was quick to reassure him, after all Xander had been trying to mate with her at the time Flutie had been eaten "Oh, right,"

"You only ate the pig," Caitlin said offhandedly, she was far from stupid. Xander glanced at her and gave her a sheepish smile. They all knew Caitlin hadn't, she was after all vegetarian and had seemed to be more with it that the others.

Pulling a face Xander decided to question what Caitlin had said "I ate a pig? Was it cooked and called bacon or..." The girls shook their heads in pity; well Caitlin found it amusing and chuckled. Xander covered his face to hide the grossed out face he was pulling "Oh, my God! I ate a pig? I mean, the whole trichinosis issue aside, yuck!" he spoke out from behind his hands.

Trying to placate him Buffy patted his back "Well, it wasn't really you," she said. Willow kept quite because that reminded her of what Caitlin had said. The redhead looked at the youngest teen and saw Caitlin was looking straight at her, almost as if she knew what she was thinking. The youngest blonde quirked a brow and shrugged, Willow realised something was going on but didn't know what.

Xander nodded and scratched the top of his head "Well, I remember I was goin' on the field trip, and then goin' down to the Wolf Cave with Caitlin to , and next thing some guy's holding Willow and he's got a knife," he averted his eyes from the group to look back at Caitlin.

Willow could finally jump back in to without feeling bad for lying, or stating something she knew wasn't necessarily true "You saved my life," it was true. Buffy had been pinned down and Caitlin was still disorientated from being knocked unconscious and then thrown to the floor.

"Hey! Nobody messes with my Willow," Xander pulled Willow into his arms at his declaration. Caitlin tensed a little when Xander wrapped Willow in a hug but not enough for others to notice; Xander released Willow slowly and smiled at her. Caitlin brought her hand up to rub her head.

Buffy watched Xander make up for all the bad things he had done to Willow yesterday in just a few words and a gesture. She smiled at the two who returned her smile. Buffy nudged his arm "This is definitely the superior Xander. Accept no substitutes," all of them smiled, even Caitlin who was now back in the conversation.

"Yeah this Xander isn't a big meanie," the youngest teen teased with a smile. She found it amusing that Xander had turned into what he hated the most, a big bully with a little gang. They had been told by the two how Xander had been unnecessarily harsh to Willow.

Chuckling Xander decided he wanted to know if he did anything else, Willow had been vague at some points in the story "I didn't do anything else, did I, around you guys or anything embarrassing?" he asked with a sheepish look on his face.

Buffy and Willow exchanged looks and smiled. Caitlin wondered if Buffy would tell Xander what she had told her last night about what he had done. Shaking her head Buffy answered "Nah!" the girls chuckled like that had an inside joke.

Willow shook her head "Not at all," her eyes cut to Caitlin's who wasn't looking at her for the first time; they were looking at Xander's relaxed face and smirking. She wondered if Caitlin remembered what had happened in the room or if Buffy had told her, she didn't want to bring it up and make Caitlin feel bad though.

"You looked a little worried Xander," Xander chuckled along with Caitlin. It was now like they had the inside joke; Buffy shrugged it off assuming it was an amnesia joke. Willow liked how well Caitlin and Xander were getting along, she was glad they couldn't remember otherwise they wouldn't be joking and laughing like they were.

Buffy turned to Willow and Caitlin "C'mon, We're gonna be late," Buffy took Willows hand and opened her other hand for Caitlin. Caitlin shook her head and signalled to Giles who was approaching them. She then remembered Caitlin was going to ask Giles about the possession.

"See you at lunch," Willow waved to Xander and then waved to Caitlin, who she would be seeing soon but didn't want her to feel left out.

"Cool! Oh, hey, goin' vegetarian! Huh?" He gave the two leaving teens a thumbs-up. Willow turned and smiled at him, glad he was back to being her friend again. Buffy smiled at Xander too for his tension easing ways, she wasn't completely comfortable around him but him being his normal self was helping. Xander turned and started to head the other way, Caitlin followed but only because she wanted to speak to Giles.

Giles met the two teens just moments after they had left Willow and Buffy, he put his arms behind his back as she spoke "I've been reading up on my, uh, animal possession, and I cannot find anything anywhere about memory loss afterwards," Caitlin looked at him and then pointedly looked at Xander. Giles got the message, Xander had started it and she didn't want to oust him.

Ignoring Caitlin's pointed look Xander asked Giles an important question "Did you tell them that?" he knew it was bad to lie but he didn't want them to see him as a monster it was bad enough he could literally feel Caitlin's annoyance with him.

Leaning in to Xander's ear the Watcher whispered to him "Your secret dies with me," he chuckled at Xander's grateful nod. He too would not want his friends to know he remembered if he had acted like that.

"Shoot me, stuff me, mount me," Xander groaned as they carried on walking. He never wanted to think about these last few days ever again, he had been a complete ass and it was hard to tell if it was really him or the Wolf

Caitlin lightly pushed his arm "Don't think I forgot you cracked me over the head with a book Xander. Unlike the others I know you remember," she stopped walking and the other two stopped walking too. Giles was there more to make sure they didn't fight again.

"No that was the Wolf," Xander instantly denied. He really wasn't sure if it was or not but he wouldn't want to her hurt her like that again, he never had before either. He couldn't believe how vicious he had been with Caitlin.

Shaking her head Caitlin patiently answered the teen stood in front of her "No Xander a possession can only take or twist what is already there, you're either jealous of me or resent me for something Xander." She wasn't going to say how she knew that but she did and he needed to know.

Xander's shoulders slumped "I don't resent you," but I'm jealous, he didn't need to say the words because they were clear. He was jealous of the younger teen about something, he wasn't sure what it was himself; just that he was.

"You need to figure this out Xander, I really don't need more people to eventually hate me, there is nothing in my life for you to be jealous of…sort it out Xander," she whispered as she headed back the way they came. She had a few minutes to get to class and she knew she could make it if she walked quickly. She needed time away from him and class was the perfect distraction.

Giles watched as Xander's shoulder's slumped in defeat, Giles went over and patted him on the shoulder as Xander shook his head and started walking along the balcony. Giles leant on the railing and watched Xander go, he felt sorry for the poor lad but he couldn't tell him that Caitlin was wrong.

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><p><strong>Hey guys R&amp;R<strong>

**I loved writing this chapter because its my favourite episodes of Season 1  
>I have updated this chapter recently because I noticed that I missed out a bit with the Bronze between Caitlin and Xander and have now added it. Hope it makes a little bit more sense now <strong>

**\Silver-Eternal-Dragon/**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello everyone I am back. It has been a while I know and I apologise. Here is the next awaited Chapter. Please be aware it is unBeta'd at the moment I just wanted to get it out there. Enjoy! :-)**

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><p><span>Angel<span>

The Bronze was busier than it usually was but, luckily for the gang, Willow had gotten there early to get them a table. Xander had been the next one to arrive. He didn't stay too long at the table however, before he was off trying to score a date. Buffy was the last one to arrive as she'd been babysitting one sister and saying bye to the other. Caitlin had to go to San Francisco for a few reasons, some Buffy knew and some she didn't. The blonde had wanted to ask but she could see Caitlin was a little jumpy about it all and Mom wasn't telling. Dawn had wanted to go with them but Caitlin had pleaded with her to stay a home, pointing out that Mom was just dropping her off at the Manor, saying a quick hello, then leaving. Caitlin had sprung the trip on her sisters that morning but their mother looked like she had known about it for a while.

Willow was trying to explain to Buffy why the Bronze was so busy. "Ah, it's the fumigation party!" Buffy made a questioning noise but didn't seem to be too involved in the conversation; she just nodded absentmindedly, not really paying attention to her friend. She couldn't help but worry about Angel. Buffy hadn't seen him in a while and all the worrying about her sister now brought up the worry for him.

The redhead noticed that Buffy wasn't paying too much attention; she figured it was something to do with Caitlin. She had received a phone call from the blonde saying she was going to be away and left the number of where she was staying. Willow continued talking, giving the Slayer the benefit of the doubt "It's an annual tradition, the closing of the Bronze for a few days to nuke the Cockroaches yunno?" Willow explained as it would be Buffy's first fumigation party.

Still not paying attention Buffy responded "Oh." She was twiddling her straw in her drink in quiet worry. Caitlin always disappeared to the Manor when she was feeling stressed or her mood was down. Angel only seemed to turn up when there was trouble, plus Caitlin didn't seem to like the mysterious guy.

Willow carried on despite her friends distracted profile. "It's a lot of fun... What's it like where *you* are?" Willow inquired. She wanted to know what was wrong with her friend so she could try and help.

Buffy finally looked up to her friend and smiled sheepishly "I'm... sorry, I was just... thinking about things..." she trailed off not really wanting to tell Willow about Caitlin. She knew her sister had phoned her best friend but she wasn't sure if she had told Willow what the situation was. Hell, Buffy didn't even know herself.

"So, we're talking about a guy?" the excitable younger teen asked giving her friend a way out. Willow loved how protective Buffy was over Caitlin; she knew the older sister wouldn't dish out information about the younger teen. It made her a little envious; she wanted to be an older sister, she wanted to the one someone turned too in their time of need.

The Slayer quickly took up on the lifeline given, sure it wasn't completely different from what she was thinking about but it was better than discussing her sister's problems. Some of which she was responsible for. Buffy rallied some humour and pulled a face of mock innocence. "Not exactly a guy. For us to have a conversation about a guy there'd have to be a guy for us to have a conversation about. And is that a sentence?" Buffy asked in genuine confusion. Alright, so the subject of guys was bugging her more than she had anticipated.

Smiling at her friend's mini babble, being glad she wasn't the only one, Willow nodded and responded, "You lack a guy." Willow spoke babble enough to know how to discern what the main point of a little babble was.

Nodding slowly, Buffy smiled shyly "I do. Which is fine with me, most of the time, but..." She hadn't really dated since becoming a Slayer, well she had, but not since they incident with JD. She knew she had caused it, indirectly, by telling her boyfriend something she shouldn't have. It was hard for Buffy to trust guys around herself; she tended to say things she wasn't meant to. She didn't understand why she did it; apparently Phoebe did the same thing. Must be genetic.

Willow looked sympathetically towards Buffy. She hadn't had a boyfriend since Xander and grade school, but then, she wasn't exactly popular. Buffy had been popular and now she really wasn't. Willow could say she couldn't miss what she never had, but Buffy could. "What about Angel?" She hadn't heard Buffy mention him for a while but Willow thought it was worth asking.

The Slayer gave her friend an incredulous look. "Angel?" she asked the redhead just to be sure. She received a nod before she carried on, "I can just see him in a relationship, 'Hi, honey, you're in grave danger. I'll see you next month.'" Buffy's tone was thick with something akin to annoyance, almost like she wanted to see him more. Funny how she had complained about him when they had first met.

"He's not around much, it's true," Willow agreed, hoping Buffy carried on talking. It would be interesting to see how Buffy would solve that problem. Maybe Willow could learn something from it and put it towards figuring out Caitlin.

Looking dreamily past her friend Buffy spoke softly, "When he is around... it's like the lights dim everywhere else." Buffy refocused her eyes and gave her friend a smile, "You know how it's like that with some guys?" Asking the question was actually just for Buffy to see Willow's feelings. She would keep at it until she really knew about Willow's intentions. Clearly Caitlin felt something for Willow; the possessed Caitlin had been all over the redheaded hacker after all.

Willow, suddenly not meeting Buffy's eyes, started to blush "Oh, yeah!" Buffy was glad to see Willow had looked at Xander, who she knew was easy to spot from the corner of her eye. Buffy grinned; maybe Willow would become her potential 'sister' sometime soon. Caitlin, however, needed to hurry up and get it together before Willow was snatched up!

Xander had been on the floor since he arrived, making short stops at the table to scout the floor and hydrate himself. It was a little embarrassing to watch so Willow and Buffy had stopped. He didn't know how to dance so he was truly making a fool of himself. He kept at it though, dancing up to girls, being shot down, and moving straight on. He was now making yet another move, this time on a pretty brunette. "Hey, Annie!" Xander glanced to his right and saw the said girl's boyfriend. A very BIG boyfriend. "Dino, my man! Just leaving," he exclaimed as he turned away in a rush. He then made the tragically fatal mistake of bumping into one Cordelia Chase.

"Ouch! Please get your extremely clumsy, badly dressed, giant-footed oafishness off my two-hundred-dollar Prada shoes!" Cordelia shrieked at the male. She truly despised someone, especially *him*, scuffing up her shoes. She could easily get a new pair, she had the money after all, but the wait for the shoes was so not worth it.

Xander put his hands up and pulled a genuinely frightened face; an enraged Cordelia Chase had that effect on just about anyone. "I'm sorry, I was just..." he didn't get to finish his sentence before she was waving her hand in front of his face in an unspoken order to cease talking.

Cordelia was done preparing her cut down and now found the perfect time to execute it. "...getting off the dance floor before Annie Vega's built boyfriend squashes you like a bug?" she asked sarcastically. She really did find him pathetic. It actually made her cringe.

The male visibly brightened; he'd been noticed after all! Sure she was the bitch of the school but boy, was she good eye candy. "Oh, so you noticed!" Cordelia nodded followed with a derisive snort, a grin, and then a very good version of the infamous "crash-and-burn" sound effects. Followed by a gleeful smirk. No way in hell was Cordelia going to give him something to hang over *her* head! Xander slowly deflated, he should have known better: Only Cordelia could reduce you to an inch tall without an actual spoken word. "Yeah, thanks for being so understanding," he said trying to act solemnly.

"Sure," the self-important female responded grandly. After all, giving Xander a minute of her time was a gift to him.

Xander shook his head before he spoke, going for a regaining of a shred of dignity. "Y'know, Cordelia, I don't know what everyone's talking about. That outfit doesn't make you look one bit like a hooker!" He laughed at her look of displeasure as he made his escape before the May Queen could respond. Cordelia stomped her foot, glaring at his back as Xander walked off and went over to the table that his friends occupied. "Boy, that Cordelia is a regular breath of vile air. What are you vixens up to," Xander asked as he leant against the table, he was in the zone.

The two girls exchanged looks at his name for them, but let it go; they would probably never understand him. Willow gave a shrug, "Just sitting here, watching our barren lives pass us by." She got a confused look in response. Not wanting to have to explain herself, she looked for a distraction and found one, "Oh, look, a cockroach." Willow stomped on the not-so-innocent insect, quickly distracting herself more than Xander. Buffy looked down to where Willow had stomped and grimaced at the thought of squashed bug.

The two girls exchanged looks at his name for them, but let it go; they would probably never understand him. Willow gave a shrug, "Just sitting here, watching our barren lives pass us by." She got a confused look in response. Not wanting to have to explain herself, she looked for a distraction and found one, "Oh, look, a cockroach." Willow stomped on the not-so-innocent insect, quickly distracting herself more than Xander. Buffy looked down to where Willow had stomped and grimaced at the thought of squashed bug.

Xander looked between the two brooding teens and mentally shook his head. Well, at least he was trying to do something about it.

"Whoa, well, let's stop this crazy whirligig of fun! I'm dizzy!" He was hanging out with his best friends and the hottest girl in school, in his opinion anyway, and there they were, sitting at a table doing nothing to get a date or even a dance. He missed Caitlin; she was always up for a dance, made him look good too. He made sure to dance with Caitlin at least twice; she was not only helping him improve his dancing, but it made him seem cool. He had seen the looks he was given when they were dancing. It was a definite improvement over the smirks or glares he usually received.

Getting up Buffy chuckled a little, "Alright, now I'm infecting those nearest and dear to me. I'm gonna call it a night." She was just going to head home and try to sort her thoughts out. Buffy knew she wouldn't get a call from Caitlin and figured she wouldn't see Angel either. Thus a perfect time to sort everything out; no distractions for her to encounter at home.

"Oh, don't go" Willow argued. She didn't want to be alone. The shy redhead didn't have Caitlin to talk to, and Xander would go off dancing again. Willow realized that her life before Caitlin and Buffy had been sorely lacking. She loved Xander, but he was always off doing something when they were at the Bonze and now she always had someone to sit with.

Xander quickly jumped on that train, "Uh, yeah! It's early! We could, um, dance!" He wanted Buffy to stay too; he wanted at least one dance with her. Plus he understood Willow's worries, he wasn't that clueless!

The Slayer smiled at her friends but regretfully shook her head, "Rain check? Good night." She quickly made her exit before they could convince her that she should stay. Xander looked on in disappointment but looked at Willow for an answer. Willow shrugged at Xander; she was a little disappointed too.

Buffy made her way out of the Bronze looking as bummed as she felt. As she passed by the stairs, Buffy felt a tingling sensation on the back of her neck. That wasn't exactly new, but it still felt strange. Quickly spinning around, hand half reaching for a stake, the Slayer looked at the stairs but saw nothing. Sighing Buffy started to head out again

~GU:CM~

Buffy could have sworn that she felt something watching her. She wasn't that in tune with her Slayer true, but it had warned her of something. The Slayer shook her head and casually strolled towards her home, enjoying the peaceful night for once. Giles had given her the night off; it was like he knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate. Buffy paused in her walking at that thought, she wondered if Giles had done some digging on her sister. The Watcher had seemed to grow more tolerant to the younger Blonde over the last few weeks and didn't seem surprised with her going away. The Slayer sighed and shook her head as she started off again, she couldn't be asked to try and figure it out tonight.

Then the tingling sensation was back again! Buffy knew it meant something important, Merrick had told her she would be able to decipher what it meant when she fully accepted her powers and honed her skills, but for now the good old 5 senses would have to do. The blonde Slayer quickly turned around hoping to catch whatever was looking at her. Buffy sighed in annoyance, looked up at the sky while rolling her eyes, and took a deep breath before she spun around and again carried on her way home.

Walking no more than a block, the blonde was once again forced to stop when she heard the sound of breathing coming from the alley she was in the process of passing. Buffy knew she was about to be in a fight, with slumped shoulders she called out, "It's late, I'm tired, and I sooo don't wanna play games. Show your stalk-ish self!" The Slayer jumped a little when she heard a roar but quickly grabbed her stake as she heard something land behind her. She spun on the spot as she pulled out her stake and thrust her arm forward only to be met with some resistance. Buffy looked down in surprise to see that there was a hand holding onto her arm! The teen made a surprised sound when she saw how big they were. The blonde whipped her head around to the side of her when she felt another hand gripped her arm, "Ooo! Okay, okay, not nice..." They dragged the still-fighting Slayer into the alley, but even with her struggling she was easily overpowered. As the two vampires held her, one on each arm, against a chain link fence, a third vampire slowly approached them. "Okay, okay... Look, I really don't wanna fight all three of you... well, unless I have to!"

In quick succession Buffy lashed out with a series of blows that caught the vampires by surprise. She first snap-kicked the crotch of the vampire in front of her, sending him down in a howl of pain. Next Buffy elbowed one of the vampires holding her one arm, causing a spurt of blood and loud 'crack' as his nose collapsed. Crap, blood that would never come out of the blouse she wore! She then threw a punch at the other vampire holding her, only to have him easily block her swing. He gave her a twisted smirk as he chuckled and quickly responded with a thrust knee into her solar plexus, knocking the air out of Buffy and slamming her into the fence. Wheezing Buffy thought how bad this situation looked as she struggled to breathe.

The other two recovered quickly from the blows and grabbed her again. Buffy just knew she was going to feel that knee to the gut in the morning. The vampire in front of her again began his approach towards the Slayer. With panic running rampant through her whole body and struggling still to breath, Buffy could do no more than struggle against their grasp. She gasped as he stopped in front of her and grabbed her head; he slowly started to lean in, clearly enjoying the panic the Slayer was feeling. Buffy closed her eyes tightly waiting for the teeth to sink into her neck. All she could think was how lame non-speaking vampires were; they never gave her anything good to quip about and never quipped about her.

The vampire leant in closer but was stopped by someone pulling him off of her; Buffy opened her eyes and saw Angel. "Good dogs don't..." Angel reared back his arm and punched the vampire before finishing his sentence "…*bite*!" The vampire snarled before heading his attack on Angel, he was clearly not impressed at being stopped and punched.

Buffy was surprised, she hadn't expected Angel to come anywhere near her, especially after the Owen mess up. She hadn't really paid attention to Angel much as she had been fuming at her sister and at Giles. Buffy shook off her surprise and quickly started to attack again, using the weight of the two vampires holding her, the Slayer was able to kick them both in the face. Smiling as she heard their groans.

The Blonde quickly scrambled away from their hunched over bodies, she got into a strong defensive position but she faltered slightly when one of the vampires grunted and headed for Angel, the lapse in concentration allowed the other vampire to grab her wrist and throw her to the fence again. Buffy watched for a split second and saw how easily Angel moved and how he seemed to know the other vampire had been behind him, he dodged its attempt to punch him in the back of the head. Buffy struggled in the vampires grip as she saw one of the vampires Angel was fighting go over to the window and rip off one of the bars. Buffy knew what was going to happen and she had to warn her saviour "Look out!"

Angel quickly spun around ready to attack but was stalled when the vampire swung the bar and sliced his chest open. Angel exhaled breathlessly at the pain as he leant forward; Buffy knew she had to act quickly if they both wanted to get out of there. The blonde thrust her open palm up into the chin of her attacker dislodging him from her and used the advantage to throw her elbow into the vampires stomach, as he bent forward to clench his stomach with a grunt, she used her two hands to hammer the top of his head, with a thud he landed on the ground seemingly unconscious. Seeing her chance Buffy rushed towards Angel and leant some of his weight on her to help him up, she noticed his two assailants coming closer "Run!" she screeched in fear as she helped manoeuvre him until Angel had his own footing.

The Three watched as the pair rushed from the alley and decided to give chase, their armour was weighing them down so it meant that they were lagging behind, they watched as the Slayer dragged the other into a house with a shout "Get in! C'mon!" they simultaneously growled in frustration as the door slammed shut on their hands. This was not going to go down well with their Master, they tried to peer inside but it was clear that the Slayer was not going to come out and they could not get in.

~GU:CM~

Angel leant his body against the banister, it wasn't a fatal wound but it was bleeding and stung like a bitch, he gripped the fabric of his top to keep it away from aggravating the wound. He saw Buffy peering worriedly out of the window "It's alright," he started and watched as Buffy tilted her head to show she was listening "A vampire can't come in unless it's invited." He watched as her shoulders slumped in relief.

"I've heard that before but I've never put it to the test, there was way too much at stake to try that," Buffy commented as she watched the Three stalk back to the shadows. It was true there was no way she would have tried that if anyone was home, she was not going to put Dawn, her mother or Caitlin in danger. The school girl turned and leant against the door with a sigh of relief, she looked at her saviour and started to smile before she saw his wound "Oh…I'll get some bandages just uh…take your jacket and your shirt off," Buffy mumbled the last bit as her cheeks flared red. She rushed out of the room leaving Angel by himself, she was going to get one of her fantasies out of the way, him topless, and the only thing better would have been if they were on a beach somewhere in the sun!

The usually mysterious man took a deep breath before releasing a shuddering exhale, he quickly checked that the Three had at least retreated enough to hide before following the Slayer. He easily removed his jacket before hesitating to take off his top, with a sigh he quickly removed said top also. Buffy turned just as he was taking his top off, she noticed the tattoo on his right shoulder. She had obviously seen tattoos before but for some reason seeing it on him surprised her "Nice tattoo," she exhaled just to break the silence. Angel looked over his shoulder briefly but didn't respond as he turned to face her. "I was lucky you came along, how did you happen to come along?" Buffy asked as she started to clean and bandage the wound, she needed something to distract herself from his chest.

Angel closed his eyes briefly as he felt Buffy's initial touch but forced his eyes open and he made them focus across the room. He cleared his throat discreetly before attempting to answer Buffy's question "I live nearby," he wasn't going to go into too much detail, the less the information given the less having to be remembered later on. Angel looked over his shoulder briefly and caught Buffy's pinched eyebrows, she clearly wasn't happy with the short sentence "I was out walking," he added as he looked away from her. This was a dangerous game he was playing, he was glad that Caitlin wasn't around or his vague answers wouldn't be enough but they seemed to do the trick with the eldest Summers sister.

The younger occupant nodded but seemed disappointed that he wasn't there for her "So, you weren't following me?" Buffy asked and successfully hid the longing in her voice. Angel looked over his shoulder as he caught the hidden tone in her voice but he didn't comment. Buffy ignored his gaze and carried on with what she was doing "I just had this feeling you were,"

The male tensed at those words, clearly her Slayer senses were better than she had anticipated. Buffy looked up when she felt him tense but instead of being met with a frown she was met with a smile "Why would I do that?" He asked with a teasing lint.

"You tell me. You're the Mystery Guy that appears out of nowhere," she nudged him lightly for his teasing lint. "'m not saying I'm not happy about it tonight, but... if you are hanging around I'd like to know why," Buffy was serious about wanting to know and the fact Caitlin mentioned it every time Angel was mentioned. The Slayer could understand why Caitlin didn't trust him, the last time she was stalked it did not end well for either of them. Lothos had been a Master vampire and the destruction that was left in that wake had not ended well for any of their family. Especially for herself and Caitlin seeing as it had lead for the both of them to be...

"Maybe I like you," Angel responded to Buffy and unknowingly taking her away from bad memories, he had known that she was no longer with him but he had assumed she was starting to figure out what he was.

Buffy smiled slightly as she finished bandaging him up. She wasn't sure if he was being serious or not but she would take the chance as she *did* really like him "Maybe..." she didn't get to finish before she heard the front door starting to open. She knew it was her mother and she also knew that if they were caught she was so going to be grounded, even possibly shipped off to her grandmother's. Buffy started to groan before another thought kicked in, the vampires were still out there. The blonde quickly turned and rushed to the front door, she pulled her mother into the house and closed the door.

The mother of three raised an eyebrow at her eldest child's strange behaviour, she was used to strange behaviour, her family was known for it after all but this was a different kind of strange behaviour. It was almost paranoia. "Hi!" Joyce greeted with some cheer and some confusion, she followed to look out of the window like Buffy was but couldn't see anything "What are you doing?" She asked after a beat of silence.

Turning to her mother the daughter answered "There's a lot of weird people outside at night, I just feel better with you safe and sound inside," Buffy said as she stepped in front of her mother, who was heading for the kitchen. "You must be beat with the round trip to San Francisco in one day," Buffy knew her mother didn't like making the round trip in one day but Joyce had to be back for work the next day.

Joyce nodded and rubbed her hand down her face, much like Caitlin did when she was frustrated or tired, this made Buffy smile seeing as her sister share something with their mother. "I am, your Grams would not let me go before having dinner and the girls were around, plus I spoke to Paige and Phoebe. It's been a busy day," Joyce sighed and ran her hand through her hair, another trait Caitlin had picked up. The younger female chuckled at the action, she really could see how much alike her mother and sister were. She knew there were something's that Caitlin got from her father but it was rare for Caitlin to ever do them because the younger sister didn't know him and Buffy could only remember his smile, Caitlin's smile. Buffy had often seen her cousins and grandmother stare at Caitlin's crooked smile and a flash of sadness would enter their eyes, her cousins clearly remembered Ricky as they were older than she was when he died, he sounded like a good man. Their mother clearly missed him, it made the Slayer wonder why her mother got back with her father.

Buffy came back from her thoughts when she felt her mother start to walk past her again, Buffy grabbed her mother's arm and diverted her mother's path to the stairs "Well, then why don't you go upstairs and get into bed, I can bring you some hot chocolate?" she knew her mother had a weakness for hot chocolate. All Halliwell's had a weakness for hot chocolate. She just hoped it distracted her mother from going into the kitchen.

Raising a brow at her eldest, Joyce quickly looked her daughter over and wondered what the girl had done wrong in the kitchen, there was no Dawn or Caitlin to blame the mess on this time. Like the baking incident of '93, Buffy had tried to blame Dawn who had actually been outside with her cousins. Joyce stroked her daughter's cheek "That's sweet," she complimented and watched as her daughter beamed at the praise but the mother quickly turned "What'd you do?" she asked with a grin to show she wasn't annoyed, yet.

"Can't a daughter just be concerned about her mother, especially after such a long day?" Buffy questioned looking affronted, she should still be able to get away with acting innocent and cute. Damn her mother for not thinking she was. Buffy's face dropped that look quickly though as Angel walked out of the living room and into the hall where mother and daughter were talking.

Joyce ignored the question as she followed Buffy's gaze and noticed a male stood in the living room entrance, a male that was far too old for her daughter she was sure. She shot her eldest a look that said they would be speaking later before she acknowledged the male "Hi," she simply greeted as she gave him a one over. Her daughter did know how to pick them though.

"Hi," Angel said back to Buffy's mother. He knew that the situation could become very awkward and he really didn't want that to happen, but introducing himself was better than her finding him.

Cursing under her breath Buffy quickly went to introduce them to each other but her mother put her hand up to stall her "And just who might you be?" she asked with a little bit of suspicion in her voice. she could have sworn that she had seen him before, she just couldn't place him.

"His name is Angel. Angel, uh, this is my mom. Mom, this is Angel. Uh, we ran into each other on the way home," Buffy filed the silence when it appeared Angel was reluctant to speak. She looked between the two but couldn't understand why they were staring like that at each other.

Angel nodded his head to her, knowing if he shook her hand it would be bad, she wasn't ready yet "Nice to meet you," he knew what her staring meant and it probably didn't help that he was staring at her either.

Giving the male a tight smile before glancing at her daughter again, Joyce saw the lost puppy dog look in Buffy's eyes. The older woman sighed as she knew she would have to be nice "What do you do Angel?" Joyce asked trying to sound interested, which was hard to do when all you really wanted was to sleep. She saw from the corner of her eye that Buffy was once again going to respond but Joyce stopped her with a raised hand "I asked Angel not you Buffy."

The teen winced at the sound of her mother's tired and slightly irritated voice, Buffy just hoped that Angel could be believing. Angel hide a grimace at the sound of the mothers voice and tried to keep his face passive as he answered her question with no help from Buffy. "I'm a student," he responded as if he were actually asking a question. Joyce shot him a disbelieving look and looked him over once again, Buffy gave him a panicked look that spurred him to carry on with his answer "First year, community college."

Jumping in quickly Buffy took his answer and tried to make it believable to save both their hides, God how she wished she were fighting the vampires again "Angel's been helping me with History, you know I've been struggling in that department without Caitlin's help."

Feeling too tired to deal with them Joyce opted to believe them "Be that as it may it's a little late for tutoring. I'm tired and I've got to get up early in the morning to go to work so say goodnight and go to bed Buffy. It was...a pleasure to meet you Angel" Joyce had paused as she really didn't know what to say so she went with a happy but slightly sarcastic goodbye to Angel. She was going to have a talk with Buffy when she was free tomorrow.

"I'll do that mom," Buffy said as she hugged her mother good night and watched her walk up the stairs. She turned to face Angel and knew she couldn't let him go home, it was way too dangerous. for the first time that night she was glad Dawn and Caitlin weren't around, she was going to have to hide Angel in her room. The Slayer opened the front door and proceeded to say a false goodbye "G'Night! We'll hook up soon and do that study thing that we said we would!" Buffy shut the door with an internal wince, that sounded lame even to her. The blonde turned around and signalled for Angel to be quiet and to follow her, the two slowly make their way up the stairs and into Buffy's room and making as little noise as possible.

As Buffy shut the door Angel decided now would be a good time to talk "Look, I don't wanna get you into any trouble..." he didn't get to finish his speech before Buffy cut him off

"And I don't wanna get you dead. They could still be out there," Buffy gestured to the window. Buffy headed further into the room before stopping, she noticed a dilemma and blushed "oh...two of us, one bed. That doesn't quite work," the blush deepened so Buffy stopped talking. Angel was silently amused at the girl's embarrassment. Buffy shook her head before she carried on "Why don't you take the bed? Y'know you're wounded..." this time it was Buffy who was cut off.

"I'll take the floor," Angel interjected and carried on speaking when Buffy opened her mouth to protest "Oh believe me I've had worse." He could see from the added words that Buffy was reassured that he would be fine, he was also glad that she didn't seem to want to ask how much worse he had endured, he wouldn't be able to think up a convincing lie. He seemed to suck at lying with these Summers women.

Buffy nodded her head "Well, why don't you check and see if the Fang Gang is still loitering around so that your back is turned whilst I get changed?" Buffy suggested with a cheeky smile. Angel merely nodded his head and went to the window, they both knew the gang wouldn't hang around so he didn't say anything before Buffy started up again. "Y'know, I'm the chosen one, it's my job to fight guys like that," Buffy paused for a brief second but it was enough for Angel to pick up on the loathing that Buffy held for her position.

"Uh, somebody has to," the male didn't know what to say so he tried to be comforting but as soon as the words were out of his mouth he knew he had made a mistake. "I fight as well," Angel continued trying to show he hadn't meant to annoy or hurt her with his words.

The Slayer finished changing and turned to glare at Angel, she hated being reminded that she *had* to be the Slayer "Well, what does your family think of your *career* choice?" she snapped at him and emphasized the word career to make him know she hadn't chosen what she was doing.

Angel winced internally at the reminder of his family, he could still see Buffy glaring at him so he knew he had to answer as not to piss her off "They're dead," he responded to her angry question with a soft tone.

Buffy's anger deflated with those words, she just couldn't be angry at someone who had lost their family, she kind of knew the feeling. She needed to understand him more though so she tried to delve a little deeper "Was it Vampires?" she asked in a calmer tone that her last question. She noticed him stiffen but heard his murmur of agreement, she didn't blame him for not speaking louder than he had, she had almost lost her family to Lothos. Buffy approached him and placed her hand on his shoulder, noticing that he stiffened but didn't mention it "I'm sorry."

The brunette shrugged and subtly managed to get the blonde's hand off of his shoulder without looking like he meant it "It was a long time ago," he said he didn't want to dredge up memories he'd rather not remember.

Crossing her arms Buffy decided to take a chance "So, this is a vengeance gig for you," she surmised. if this was about getting revenge then she knew best of all that it was the most dangerous reason to fight the vampires, vengeance blinds reason.

Angel didn't rise to what he considered bait and decided to change the subject to a safer one. he looked at her properly "Y-you even look pretty when you go to sleep." So it wasn't the safest topic change after all then, Angel quickly looked back to the window as to avoid his starring.

"Well, when I wake up it's an entirely different story," Buffy responded to the subject change. she assumed he didn't want to talk about his family, the thought of it being something else didn't even cross his mind. The Teen went over to the bed and picked up the comforter, it would have to do as getting the spare duvet would alert her mother to Angel still being in the house. Buffy thrust the comforter into his hands as he came over "Here, sleep tight." Both started to get settled into for the night, when Buffy saw that Angel was comfortable she looked at him again "Angel?" Angel looked at her to show her he was paying attention "Do you snore?" she asked half seriously and half-jokingly. She couldn't stand it when people snored, she hated sharing a room with Phoebe because if the older girl was led on her front she would snore loudly and keep the blonde awake.

The older occupant chuckled breathlessly "I don't know. It's been a long time since anybody's been in a position to let me know." They shared a smile before Buffy was satisfied and turned her lamp off so she could settle in for sleep. Angel whoever continued to stare at the teen who was gradually starting to drop off, the male smiled before looking back at the ceiling and closing his eyes.

~GU:CM~

Xander was pacing, he couldn't help it really, he had just been clued in to what had happened last night after Buffy had left the Bronze. He did not like it one bit. Buffy had been followed by vampires and *Angel* had saved her then stayed over! The male stopped pacing just in front of Buffy and Willow "He Spent the Night?" he asked just to be sure he had heard right. Before Buffy could answer Xander showed the girls why he was so agitated "In your room? In your bed?" his voiced rose into a shout at the end of his question rant.

Both girls looked at him strangely, they got why he was upset of course because they knew he had a crush on Buffy but they didn't expect that reaction. Buffy shook her head and spoke to Xander slowly "Not *in* my bed, *by* my bed." It was almost strange to see him acting like she thought Caitlin would have reacted. She was glad that neither her sisters were home in the morning because they would have discovered Angel sleeping on her floor; she had left him to sleep there and hoped her mother wouldn't need to go back before she got back from School.

Willow sighed as she imagined herself having the person she crushed on saving her and staying the night. The redhead shook her head when she saw that person had blonde hair and looked quite feminine. Willow turned her attention to Buffy and hoped the distraction "That is so romantic!" she gushed and grabbed Buffy's arm lightly "Did you, uh…I mean, did he, uh…" she stuttered off not knowing how to word what she wanted to ask.

"Perfect Gentleman," Buffy assured her friend with a smile. She had understood what Willow was trying to ask her, Willow was wondering if Angel had acted inappropriately. The other girl smiled and relaxed back into her chair, she felt she had to ask just in case Caitlin found out and Willow needed to help calm her down.

The female occupants of the library jumped when the male slammed his hands on the table "Buffy, c'mon, wake up and smell the seduction. It's the oldest trick in the book." Xander really couldn't believe how both girls were falling for it, a part of him wished Caitlin was there to back him up and she would see what he saw at least.

Buffy sat up straight in her chair and realised that he was not going to let this go, she couldn't help but be annoyed by his behaviour "What? Saving my life? Getting slashed in the ribs whilst saving me?" she questioned with annoyance showing in every word. She couldn't believe that they were arguing about this, Xander shouldn't be annoyed that Angel had saved her life. Unless it was because *Angel* saved her life and not *Xander* doing the saving. She snorted at the thought, Xander wouldn't have been able to save her.

Shaking his head at her supposedly naivety Xander retorted "Duh! I mean, guys'll do anything to impress a girl." He really wanted Buffy to see what he was seeing, there was no way an older guy like Angel was not looking for a bit of hanky-panky and the fact she had willingly invited him to sleep in her room was just, in his opinion, Naive and stupid.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Buffy asked as she stood up to glare at Xander. He was acting like Caitlin would have acted and she barely tolerated her younger sister berating her so there was no way she was going to take it from a friend she hadn't known for too long. Willow whimpered slightly at their actions and words, Buffy heard and turned to look at Willow. The Slayer softened when she noticed Willow was freaked out by her display.

Xander realised that he was actually in an argument, he looked at Willow and grinned trying to show that everything was cool "I-I once drank an entire gallon of Gatorade without taking a breath," Buffy was far from impressed at his jokey attitude but let it slide, for now.

Willow, who had been worried they were going to get into a massive argument sighed in relief "It was pretty impressive. Although later there was an ick factor," she shrugged at Buffy to show she was alright.

Giles had been keeping an eye on the discussion and decided that he shouldn't intervene as he felt if he did it would only be bought up later when they had time to stew on their feelings. Teenagers, he scoffed to himself and he approached the table now that the discussion had calmed down. "Can we steer this riveting conversation back to the events that happened earlier in the evening?" Giles watched as Buffy sat down again but kept her eyes on Xander, who was looking distinctly uncomfortable "You left the Bronze and were set upon by three unusually virile vampires. Did they look like this?" The Watcher questioned as he set the book down in front of Buffy. Willow peered down to the picture first and winced, those vampire did not look friendly at all.

"Yeah. What's with the uniforms?" The slayer had been dying to ask that question since she had met them. Seriously it was the 20th Century, shouldn't vampires be trying to get with the time and blend it, hunting in armour sounded more effort that it was worth.

The Watcher took off his glasses to clean them whilst he thought, it was serious if Buffy was being chased by these vampires, "It seems you encountered the Three. Warrior vampires, very proud and very strong." He placed his glasses back on as he heard Buffy sigh in defeat, it appeared the teen had known that but had hoped for better news.

Willow looked up from the book and focused on Giles "How is it you always know this stuff? You always know what's going on. I never know what's going on," She really detested not knowing what was going on and that had been happening a lot more lately.

"Well, you weren't here from midnight until six researching it." Giles's response was a little more snippy than he had originally planned for it and promptly received a glare from Buffy. it seemed the blonde had taken up her sisters favourite past time, glaring at his remarks to Willow.

The redhead shook her head "No, I was sleeping and dreaming of good and fluffy things. I like those things, these things are just way too much," Willow started a mini rant and promptly blushed when she revealed way more than she had set out to. Buffy smiled at Willow and secretly envied her for still being able to dream like that.

Giles blinked at the response he had gotten and didn't know how to respond, so he ignored it "Uh, o-obviously you're hurting the Master very much. He, he wouldn't send the, the Three for just anyone. We must step up our training with weapons." They hadn't practised recently with weapons and he really had no idea on her capabilities with weapons.

Buffy couldn't reel in the groan that escaped her mouth "Do we have to, I practise enough with Caitlin especially when she need to blow off steam. I'm already good enough," and if she needed more practise it would be with Caitlin, who she knew was trained in them. she really wished she had gone for all the martial arts classes Caitlin went too before going to mixed martial arts. Stupid therapy requests. No that wasn't far, it wasn't Caitlin's fault it helped her calm down to hit things with weapons.

"I will be the judge that, thank you very much," Giles commented indignantly. She was his Slayer and he was going to train her, whether she liked it or not.

Xander was quick to jump in at this point "Buffy, you should stay at my house until these Samurai guys are history." The teenaged male missed the look Willow shot him and also missed her shaking her head in disbelief.

"What?" Buffy ground out at his statement, she was still a little pissed at him for his earlier comments. he had after all implied she was dumb.

Xander waved Buffy down, clearly not catching her threatening tone, "Ah-ah-ah, don't worry about Angel, Willow can run to your house and tell him to get out of town fast." Both girls frowned at him, Willow for being used *again* and Buffy for being treated like a damsel in distress.

Giles, knowing Xander was digging himself deeper, shook his head "Angel and Buffy are, are not in any immediate jeopardy. Eventually the Master will send someone else, but in the meantime the Three, having failed, will offer their own lives in penance."

That caught Buffy's attention "Really? they didn't get me so now they are going to offer themselves up for the chopping block. I love the stupid warrior's code," Buffy grinned and relaxed a little. Willow smiled as well, she didn't have to phone Caitlin and tell her the bad news anymore.

"Yes lets thank their stupid warrior code," the eldest occupant rolled his eyes as he headed into his office, Teenagers.

~GU:CM~

Buffy looked around the weapons cabinet, she was checking it out for any decent weapons. Giles was by the entrance closing down the library. "Cool! Crossbow!" The Slayer grinned as she lifted the object out and then looked for the ammo, with her free hand she took the bolts out and examined them "Huh, check out these babies. Goodbye stakes, hello flying fatality. This would save *so* much time. What can I shoot?" Buffy asked as she turned to face her Watcher.

Giles moved to take the crossbow away from her "Um, nothing. The crossbow comes later," seeing as he didn't know how good with weapons she was, he really wasn't going to trust her with something sharp that could fly across the room. Buffy pouted as he relieved her of the weapon and put it back. "You must first become proficient with the basic tools of combat." The Slayer rolled her eyes as her Watcher disappeared into the cage, she already was proficient with weapons. Giles came back out with two poles, *quarterstaffs* Buffy reminded herself, much to her annoyance and handed her one "And let's begin with the quarterstaff. Which, incidentally, will, uh, require countless hours of vigorous training. I speak from experience." He thought he was reassuring her but all he was doing was making himself bigger and she knew that the bigger they were the harder they fell.

"Giles, 20th Century? I'm not gonna be fighting Friar Tuck," Buffy complained because she knew that the only thing a quarterstaff would help with would be breaking so she could stake a vampire.

Trying to keep his calm with the teenager , which wasn't easy, the Englishman replied "You never know with whom or what you'll be fighting." Giles walked over to the table and started to place on protective gear, Slayers were naturally hard hitters and he did not wish to be bruised. And these traditions have been handed down through the ages. Now, you show me good, steady progress with the quarterstaff, and in due course we'll discuss the crossbow. Put on your pads," Giles grabbed his staff and turned to face his opponent, only to have her laugh at him.

Buffy leant on the staff as she laughed at him "I'm not gonna need pads to fight you. I don't wear them with Caitlin so there is no way I am with you." She just found it so funny he was being serious.

Giles bristled in annoyance and decided to teach her a lesson "Well, we'll see about that. En garde!" He thrust the staff at Buffy several times wanting to catch her off guard as she was still laughing. Buffy easily parried them all, half-hearted but still managed it easily. She decided to take the offensive, pushing his staff to the floor and punched him in the face, he gasped in surprise from the moves. Buffy came around with the staff and hit him in the back. Giles winced as he heard the sound before he felt in and had no time to actually register the pain before he was hitting the floor with a groan. Buffy had knocked his legs from under him as he was focusing on the hit to the back, the blonde stood over him with a grin. "Good. Let's move on to the crossbow," Giles managed to get out between his clenched teeth, he was embarrassed and in pain.

Buffy chuckled "My thoughts exactly," she hadn't really wanted to show him up but he had left her very little choice. She was going to drag Caitlin into one of these session just so he could see she really wasn't just trying to get out of training by saying she knew what she was doing. Seeing them spar would certainly shut him up. The teen walked back over to the weapons cabinet and took the crossbow out again "Next time Giles, listen to me."

~GU:CM~

Dawn sat on the stairs waiting for her big sister to come home, her mom had said that she was studying with Willow but Dawn knew the truth. She was studying alright but it wasn't with Willow or even a school subject. She wanted to know why there was a strange man in Buffy's room, their mother might not have seen him but she sure had and that's only because he clearly didn't know about her. She had been on the phone to Caitlin when she saw him, causing her to fall silent, she had told Caitlin that she had seen some strange bird in the window earning her a warning to stay away from it by her sister and a smile from the strange guy.

The mother of three walked out of the front room and replaced the phone on its cradle "Dawnie what are you doing?" she asked softly. She obviously knew what her youngest was doing, she was sat looking at the door after all but it was usually for Caitlin, who they had just gotten off the phone too.

"Waiting for Buffy," the young girl responded in a mumble to her mother's question. Joyce gave a little smile at that, a year ago, heck even 6 months ago Dawn wouldn't have bothered waiting for Buffy. The girls didn't hate each other but it was just them always arguing, Buffy wanted to spend time with her friends and Dawn wanted attention from her big sister. Joyce couldn't even remember how many headaches she had gotten from the two arguing, it usually took Caitlin to agree to forgo going out to spend time with the young girl for the argument to stop.

Joyce opened her mouth to ask Dawn another question but it died in her throat as the front door opened up "I'm home!" was heard before Buffy even appeared. Dawn was off the step and had her arms around Buffy before the older girl had shut the door "Oof! Dawnie let me shut the door at least," The blonde chuckled as she maneuvered herself and her baby sister in order for her to shut the door.

The gallery owner smiled wistfully as she remembered a time when she did the same thing to her sister, it was a long time ago and she hadn't done it since before she was an Aunt at the age of 12. "Dinner will be finished soon so why don't you two just relax for a little while." She shared a smile with Buffy and brushed her hand over Dawn's hair as she walked past them in order to get to the kitchen.

Buffy knew that her mother was giving her some time with Dawn, something that she had been doing more of lately and it made both of them feel good about themselves, a year ago that never would have happened. The older sister picked up her youngest sister, who squealed in surprise and in the process made Buffy chuckled, so that she could move them to the living room. Buffy purposely collapsed backwards so that she was lead on the sofa with Dawn on top of her "What's the what Dawnie?" Buffy asked as she adjusted herself to get comfortable.

The brunette fidgeted, causing Buffy to groan as she got an elbow in the side, she wanted to be comfortable and be able to see Buffy as well. Dawn peered up into her sisters forest green eyes and looked serious "Should the question be Who's the Who?" she asked trying to be suitable so that if their mother overheard them then she wouldn't catch on to what she was on about.

"You saw," Buffy's response wasn't a question but more of a statement. The Slayer was actually a little incredulous that Dawn hadn't blurted it out to their mother yet but she would take her sister's silence if she was giving it. "His name is Angel," Buffy said barely above a whisper so their mother wouldn't here.

The pre-teen nodded at the statement "You could have warned me somehow, I was on the phone to Caitlin when I saw him," Buffy frowned and went to respond but Dawn slapped her hand over Buffy's mouth "I didn't tell her but now Caitlin think's some strange bird it nesting outside my window."

Licking her sister's hand, who pulled back in disgust, the older girl got to answer "Well there is a nest outside your window but the bird doesn't give me the creeps." Dawn narrowed her eyes at her sisters teasing but she could sense the underlying gratitude. The two sisters led on the sofa just relaxing until their mother called them into the dining room for dinner.

~GU:CM~

Willow quickly picked up the phone as she entered her room. She hadn't expected it to be ringing; her parents just left notes or sent letters, so she knew it wouldn't be them. "Hello Rosenberg Residence, Willow speaking," Willow answered like she had been taught.

The teen heard a chuckle on the other end and frowned in thought, she knew that chuckle "Wow Wills you sure have that greeting down. Every time I ring it feels like I am about to book an appointment," it was Caitlin!

"Hi Caitlin!" Willow exclaimed as she skipped over her bed. She had shut the door even though she didn't need to obviously but she never really knew if or when her parents would be home. They were meant to be gone for a week but sometimes they just turned up. Willow noticed the time and saw it was a couple minutes past 8 at night. "I thought you weren't going to phone until tomorrow so you could get settled in and talk to Amy for a while," Willow knew about Amy and Caitlin's little outings once a week and liked how Caitlin had a friend outside of their little group. She always saw Amy's face light up when they left to do their thing.

"Well I spoke to Amy earlier and she said Buffy looked a bit freaked out when she came into School today…" Caitlin trailed off expecting Willow to fill in the blank for her. Amy had sounded worried and even looked worried when Willow had seen her earlier in the day.

Willow sighed into the phone, she hadn't wanted Caitlin to know about the Three because she was meant to be relaxing but the redhead couldn't keep a secret to save her life. Actually she didn't know if that was true anymore seeing as she was now in life threatening situations "Buffy got jumped last night by some vampires, Angel saved her." Willow chuckled when she heard Caitlin groan at Angel's name "Why don't you like Angel?" Willow asked seriously.

Caitlin could be heard moving, clearly making sure she wasn't being listened too "The guy gives me the creeps, we only ever see him at night, we only know his supposed first name, which is lame by the way, and he seemed to have a knack at knowing what baddies are coming. Forgive me for being sceptical," Caitlin finished sarcastically with a hint of anger. Willow remained silent; Caitlin had worked herself up about something that she hadn't said, the older teen didn't have to wait long before she heard Caitlin sigh "Sorry I didn't mean to say it like that. Let's just say I don't get on well with Buffy and her male friends aka Boyfriends."

"Caitlin what is it that made you angry? and no being vague," Willow knew she was pushing it but she wanted to know so she could help. She was met by silence on the other end; clearly Caitlin didn't want to answer "Caitlin I…" Willow was quickly cut off.

Caitlin had been silent because she has been trying to think of a way to get out of explaining without hurting Willow's feelings. She cut the redhead off "Please Willow, please drop it," her voice came out in a begging tone. She couldn't re-live the previous year, or even the year before that. She had freaked her family out when she had gotten lost in the past and she didn't think *she'd* make it through if she had to go there again.

The older teen couldn't believe that she had heard Caitlin begging but she quickly changed the subject "What did you do today then?" it was a very safe question seeing as Caitlin was in San Francisco.

~GU:CM~

The dinner had been peaceful just them talking about how their day had gone. Dawn discussed her history project on her genealogy, Buffy and Joyce shared a look that was thankfully missed by Dawn. Buffy had whined about doing her own studying and trying to fit in having fun, the life of a teenager was so hard. Joyce had told the girls that they were going away for the weekend to pick Caitlin up from the manor, Buffy knew she was going to have to tell Giles and that he would complain.

The rest of the evening had gone well and was quiet with each of the occupants doing their own things. It wasn't until late when a scream woke Dawn up. Dawn shot up in bed when she heard a scream rip through the house, she jumped up from her bed and rushed into Buffy's room. The pre-teen stopped in her tracks as she caught a glimpse of Angel's face. Dawn blinked as she watched Angel flee through the window, she couldn't believe that he was a vampire, she had seen him during the day after all.

Joyce rushed into the room carefully going around a frozen Dawn. The mother of three rushed over to her eldest who was looking out of the window in confusion and panic "Buffy, what happened?" Joyce questioned her daughter as she turned the blonde away from the window to look at her. Blue eyes peered intently into green eyes but when no answer was forthcoming Joyce shook her daughter's shoulders slightly "Buffy?"

Buffy shook her head trying to clear it of the confusion, anger and hurt she was feeling "Uh, nothing. I saw a-a-a weird looking bird." The older sister caught her youngest sister's eyes and saw that the young girl had seen exactly what she had by the panicked expression covering Dawns face. Joyce furrowed her brow but remembered Dawn mentioning something like that to Caitlin on the phone earlier.

"It might have been the one that made me jump earlier," Dawn backed Buffy up with her statement. Joyce was reluctant but nodded as she dropped the subject, she would probably never know what had spooked Buffy but as she looked out of the window she couldn't see anything to suggest the girls were lying.

The mother bid her girls good night and told Dawn to get back to bed as she left the room to go back to her room and sleep. Dawn stood frozen by the door, she couldn't believe her eyes "he's a vampire?" the young girl questioned softly. Buffy just nodded slightly, still too shocked to speak. "Well crap," Dawn muttered as she approached Buffy's bed. Buffy nodded again, she too approached the bed. Both girls knew that they would be sharing a bed tonight, neither would sleep otherwise.

~GU:CM~

As soon as they had all met up the next day Buffy had told them what had transpired the night before and all of them had been shocked, Xander felt a little bit of 'I told you so' but wisely kept his mouth shut. Maybe he was learning after all, or maybe he was scared she would bite his head off like she had seemed to want to do yesterday. Willow was the first to break the stunned silence "Angel's a vampire?" she muttered her question as if her mind couldn't process the thought. Caitlin had been right all this time it seemed.

The blonde in the group dropped her head and heaved a sigh "I can't believe this is happening. He was home alone with my Mom and Dawn, He could have killed them," Buffy lifted her head to look at her friends again, they could all see the torment she was going through over that fact. "One minute we were kissing and the next..." tilting her head to her Watcher she asked him a question she already knew the answer to but needed him to disprove her " Can a Vampire ever be a good person? Could it happen?"

Giles shook his head, a small part of him really wanted to say yes but he couldn't because it wasn't true. He wished he could say yes so she wouldn't worry about her family's safety but Vampires were demons. He was surprised her family was still alive if he had spent time there unsupervised but he knew not to say that out loud, ever. The Watcher adjusted his glasses as he carefully worded his response, "A vampire isn't a person at all. It may have the movements, the, the memories, even the personality of the person that it took over, but i-it's still a demon at the core. There is no halfway with demons they have no souls, they are innately evil."

Willow scoffed at Giles's answer he had said all that when all he really needed to say was a one word answer "So that'd be a no then?" She asked with a hint of sadness for Buffy and sarcasm for Giles.

Buffy looked at Willow and shot her a small smirk. The redhead was certainly hanging around Caitlin too much if she was picking up on her habits. The Slayer's thoughts caught up with her again and she flung her arms out in frustration "The why is he doing this? Vampires like to toy with their prey but this is a bit excessive isn't it! getting me to like him after saving my life and then delivering me to the Master? He could have taken Mom or Dawn at any time I wasn't home yesterday or he could have slaughtered them but he didn't. This doesn't make any sense." The others could tell Buffy had been keeping that in for a while and it must have freaked her out to realise she had left her mother and sister unattended with a vampire in the house. Once they reached a place where they could sit Buffy slumped down onto the bench, exhausted even though the day had just begun. Willow sat down beside her and started to rub her back soothingly.

Xander scratched the back of his head and joined them on the bench "Alright, so uh you have a problem and it is by no means a small one. Let's take a deep breath step back so we can look at this calmly and objectively. He's a vampire, you're a vampire Slayer therefore you must Slay him," Xander patted her on the shoulder with a smile but stopped short when he saw the glares that the girls were giving him. Gulping, Xander looked to Giles for support.

The Librarian sighed at the poor boy, he just kept sticking his foot in his mouth, Giles crouched down in front of Buffy "It's a Slayer duty..." was all he managed to get out before the foolish boy spoke up again but the Watcher was secretly glad because the girls had turned their glares onto him. He missed Caitlin, she would be able to reason with the two.

The teenaged male hadn't been afraid of his female friends for long as she opened his mouth back up "I-I Know you have feelings for the guy but c'mon it's not like you're in love with him or anything," Xander joked and nudged Buffy with his shoulder, only to see Buffy look away "You're in love with a vampire? what the hell is wrong with you?" Xander shouted out and jumped from his perch to point at her accusingly. Buffy sunk down trying to hide herself away from his accusation but could not tell him she didn't because in truth she suspected that she did.

Everyone froze when they hear a voice shout out from beside them "What!?" They all turned to face a shocked and horrified looking Cordelia. The whole gang remained silent as all of them were experiencing different levels of panic.

The first person get over their shock was surprisingly the guy who was getting them exposed "Not Vampire.." he turned back and pointed more frantically at Buffy "How could you love and Umpire? Everyone hates 'em!"

Willow blanked Cordelia out as she started ranting at a girl wearing the same outfit as her. The redhead focused all of her attention onto her oldest friend "Are you trying to get us all caught?" she asked with a hint of anger in her words. Turning his attention to his old friend Xander blinked in confusion. The redhead shook her head "You keep shouting stuff about, 'how's was the Slaying last night' 'with a vampire.' Why don't you just announce it over the PA system during class time." Willow took Buffy's hand in hers and pulled her up so they could head to class.

Giles nodded at Willow's words and awkwardly patted Xander on the back "She has a point," and with that he headed towards the Library leaving the teen on his own to think of his actions. The Watcher knew he would be having to remind Buffy that Angel was indeed a vampire and not a person, maybe it would help if he were able to find out exactly who the vampire was, the name was strangely familiar if he was honest.

~GU:CM~

He knew they would turn up during their free period and he was glad that he had been looking into this Angel character because he really couldn't believe what he had found. The Watcher stepped up behind the male teen, causing Xander to jump, but Giles wasn't paying attention as he carried on reading what was written in the book he was holding "Here's something at last."

Xander was quick to speak up as he clutched his chest dramatically "Can you please warn us before you do that? I'm too young for a heart attack." He looked towards the girls for a little back up but they didn't seem too interested in him after his bout of putting his foot in his mouth earlier.

"There is nothing about this Angel vampire in the texts but it suddenly occurred to me that I made heard a name similar to it and I decided to check the diaries of the Watchers before me," Giles ignored Xander's little speech in favour of staying on a serious topic but when he looked up he saw that the teens were only half paying attention.

Willow sat facing Buffy and her legs crossed on the chair so she could lean forward "That musta been so embarrassing when you thought he had read your diary, but then it turned out he hadn't and you ranted about him not being the A in it and when you found out he felt that same..." she managed to say in one breath before she heard Giles clear his throat forcing her attention onto him. The Librarian raised a brow at her and she quietly eep'd before facing him "I'm listening."

Shooting the young teen a thankful look Giles carried on now he had their attention "There's mention some two hundred years ago in Ireland of, of Angelus, the one with the angelic face."  
>Buffy Absently nodded her head to that part of the story "They got that right," she mumbled and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms. She was so tired, she just wanted to wake up from this nightmare and be back in her bed.<p>

The young male coughed but otherwise kept his mouth shut, he really didn't want both of them to be pissed off at him for too long. The other occupants of the library shot him a look but carried on as Xander didn't carry on speaking. Giles took up speaking again "Does this, um, Angel have a tattoo on his right shoulder?" Giles almost forgot to use the vampire's new name. If he has used Angelus, Buffy would have jumped to his defence without actually thinking about it. Damn teenage hormones the Watched sighed.

Buffy nodded but before she could verbally response Xander jumped up in accusation. Clearly the male had really wanted to speak earlier and could no longer keep his silence. The teen male stood up and pointed at the Slayer "Now I'm saying something!" he exclaimed as he waved his pointed finger about in mixture of disbelief and anger "You saw him naked?"

"No," The older teen responded with a scowl. His behaviour was starting to grate in her nerves. Turning her attention to her Watcher Buffy was able to respond to his question "Yeah it was some kind of bird, a Griffin maybe," her eyebrows bunched up.

The redhead spoke up quickly as she saw her long-time friend opened his mouth to respond "So, he's been around for a while then?" the question caused Giles to regain the room's attention again.

"Not long for a vampire," Giles responded with a shake of his head. The watcher could see they wanted more information than that "Uh, two hundred and forty years or so." Angel was fairly young for a vampire, especially one with his reputation.

Buffy's eyes widened "Huh! Two hundred and forty. Well, he said he was older. I was thinking maybe twenty two, guess I was thinking realistically," Buffy trailed off into a mumble, Willow heard the words as she was sat next to the blonde and patted her shoulder sympathetically.

The Watcher takes a seat at the table and continues to flip through the diary "Angelus leaves Ireland, uh, wreaks havoc in, in Europe for several decades, and then about eighty years ago, the most curious thing happens. He, he comes to, uh, to America, um, shuns other vampires, and, and lives alone. There's, there's no, no record of him hunting here," Summing up the Vampires afterlife seemed the best way to give them the information without giving them too much information, it was far from pleasant.

"So he *is* a good vampire!" Willow exclaimed as she nudged Buffy but stopped quickly as she realised what she said "I mean, on a scale of one to ten, ten being someone who's killing and maiming every night, and one being someone who's... not," she lamely tried to cover herself as she really didn't think a vampire could be good not from the ones she had seen and the not having a soul would be very hard for them to be good. Willow quickly looked to Giles for help, no way was Xander going to help her out.

Giles shook his head as she closed the book "I say that there's no record, but, uh, vampires hunt and kill. It's, it's what they do." He knew that wouldn't help Willow but he was not going to lie to them, it would probably get them killed if he did.

Xander nodded enthusiastically "Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly," the quicker Buffy got over Angel the better for him, them, he mentally corrected himself. He really didn't like Angel, before he knew that Angel was a vampire he just seemed like a stalker and a pervert. Angel looked to be in his twenties and that didn't help him when following Buffy but finding out he was a vampire and over two hundred years older than his friend just plain creeped him out. He had to be up to something.

"He could've fed on me," Buffy said in a hard tone. Willow could tell she was trying to stand up for the vampire but even she could see that Giles and Xander assumed she was realising the situation. Buffy crossed her arms defiantly "He didn't," she added as she too saw what they were thinking.

Xander threw his arms up and pointed at Giles "Question: a hundred years or so before he came to our shores, what was he like then?" He asked the Watcher his question without realising that Buffy was glaring at him again.

Willow started to rub Buffy's shoulder, much like she did when Caitlin was pissed off, the blonde started to calm slightly but her glare remained on the teen. Willow sighed in relief slightly, she really didn't want Xander to be beaten to a pulp.

Giles wished Xander would stop putting him on the spot but he had to admit the teen had a good point and he knew he should answer honestly "Uh, like all of them. Uh, a vicious, violent animal." So he did.

Buffy pushed away from the table "I get it alright, he's a vampire but I want to know what he's up to first before I do anything." The blonde walked away from them and left the library leaving the three with different thoughts on her words. Xander thought her words were an excuse. Giles thought her words were smart in knowing the enemy. Willow thought that Buffy had meant the words an excuse for more time and to see if Angel really was up to something.

~GU:CM~

School was over for the day and so was Buffy's light training. Giles has tried to teach her how to block blows from the 'friar tuck' staff but the blonde had quickly blocked and disarmed him. leaving the Buffy and Willow to laugh at him. The two teens had stayed after the training to get some studying done.

Willow flipped her book back to the beginning of the chapter she was just on before she looked up at her friend, she took her studying very seriously "Okay, so let's review." The redhead was so focused on the study session that she didn't notice that Buffy wasn't paying attention "Reconstruction began when?" she asked as she focused on the book again but when she didn't get a response she looked back up "Buffy?" Willow prompted.

Buffy focused on her friend after she heard her name "Huh?" she shook her head, she had heard the question she just hadn't been paying attention "Oh! Um, reconstruction... Uh, reconstruction began after the... construction, which was... shoddy, so they had to reconstruct," she finished lamely knowing she had completely failed that one.

Shaking her head Willow gave the correct answer "After the destruction of the Civil War," she should have known this wasn't going to be easy, Caitlin liked to study and they usually went further than they should have but they had fun. The redhead knew they were not going to get anywhere anytime soon.

"Right. Civil War. During which Angel was already, like, a hundred and change..." Buffy trailed off as her thoughts went back to Angel.

The redhead shut her book with a sigh, she had thought right it seemed "Are we gonna talk about boys, or are we gonna help you pass history?" She asked rhetorically already knowing the answer. Buffy looked back at Willow but did not answer. Willow crossed her arms over the book with a smile "Sometimes I have this fantasy that someone's just gonna grab me and kiss me right on the lips," the Smile faltered a little due to confusion. She wasn't sure anymore who that person was.

Buffy could see the confliction in Willow's eyes but decided not to push the redhead to tell her what she was thinking "You want that someone, you've gotta speak up, girl!" It would be cool if Willow would tell Caitlin she had feelings for her, Dawn and herself knew Caitlin had some feelings for Willow and with how Willow acted around Caitlin, they knew she had feelings for Caitlin too.

"No, no, no, no," Willow instantly responded as she shook her head "No speaking up. That way leads to madness and sweaty palms," she pulled her book closer to her as if seeking comfort. Speaking up would lead to more confusion and possible some anger from people and she really didn't want to have to deal with that. Before Buffy could open her mouth to retort, Willow changed to focus back onto the blonde "Okay, so here's something I gotta know. When Angel kissed you... I mean before he turned into... how was it?"

"Unbelievable!" Was the only word that Buffy could think described the kiss. She had kissed guys before but older guys could clearly kiss better. Great kissing must come with experience and practice.

Willow sighed as she tried to imagine a kiss that was unbelievable, she figured her mind could never conjure a feeling that good. "Wow! And it is kinda novel how he'll stay young and handsome forever, although you'll still get wrinkly and die, and... Oh, and what about the children?" as the question left her mouth she took into account how Buffy was staring at her and realised her mind had run off again and that Buffy didn't want to be thinking about that stuff. "I'll be quiet now."

"No, it's okay. I need to hear this. I need to get over him so I can..." Buffy tried to search for a word that wouldn't hurt her to say but she knew she wouldn't be able to think of one.

Catching the Slayers dilemma Willow jumped "So that you can..." she too didn't say a word as she knew Buffy didn't want to hear one but she supplied a stabbing gesture. The two of them knew that everyone else was cheering for her to do that but Willow could tell Buffy really didn't want to and would stall until she had to.

Buffy nodded with a sad look on her face "Like Xander said, I'm the Slayer, and he's a... vampire. God, I can't! He's never done anything to hurt me..." Buffy shook her head, Willow shouldn't have to listen to her little rant. "Okay, no, I need to stop thinking about this. Okay, let's give another half an hour and maybe something will sink in. And then I'm going home for some major moping." She might not know what to do but if she didn't decide and have a good reason for her decision she knew that Caitlin would make a decision when she came back. She was positive she wouldn't like the decision.

Understanding her friend wanted time to think about this Willow opened her book and started to question the blonde again, she knew she hadn't been listening earlier but she wanted to know how much she needed to teach.

~GU:CM~

For the first time in a long while the house was quiet, there were no feet thumping on the stairs, no giggling girls and no arguing. The reason for it being so quiet? she was home alone. Joyce was sat on the sofa curled up with a glass of wine and a book. Her eldest daughter was studying with her friend, her middle daughter was with her grandmother and cousins and her youngest was sleeping at her friend's house for the night. Joyce took a deep breath as she enjoyed the silence, the mother of three almost didn't recognise what silence was. Her life had always been busy and noisy. She had helped raise her nieces and then had children of her own but they were now at that age where being at home with her just didn't appeal to them anymore, the thought made her feel sad.

Placing the book down on the coffee table Joyce stood up and walked up the stairs, she headed towards her older children's rooms and couldn't help peering inside. Buffy's room was quite neat for a teenaged girl, she had a few articles of clothing on the bed, her wardrobe was open and a few items of makeup were on the vanity. Buffy was never usually this clean or organised but it seemed being in Sunnydale had helped her to mature a little.

She turned and entered Caitlin's room. The room was meticulous as always, the only items that were out of place where things Dawn had clearly borrowed and her wardrobe door was open signalling Buffy had raided her sisters clothing again. Joyce chuckled as she moved everything back to its place. Caitlin wouldn't mind things being moved but the young teen was very strict about where things went, her music was arranged in genre, books arranged by author and special books were out of reach on the top shelf from Dawn. The only thing Joyce noticed as being out of place were the pictures on Caitlin's bedside table, it seemed they had been moved. She had a few pictures on her bedside. The first was one of all the girls, with her nieces in the back and her children in the front. The second was one of herself and her children. The oldest picture on there by far was a picture of herself, Buffy, Caitlin as a baby and Ricky. Joyce noticed that the picture had been cleaned up and placed in a new frame. The newest picture on there was a picture she had taken herself; the children had been outside and messing around when she took the picture. Xander had gotten a hold of the hose and was dousing the girls with it, Caitlin had her arms around Willow and was picking her up to put her in the spray and Buffy was doing the same with Dawn. Joyce did note that a picture was missing; she reasoned it was because Willow was around a lot and her daughter didn't want to explain the photo. What she didn't realise what Caitlin had used it against Buffy a few weeks ago and that it now resided in Buffy's top draw.

Joyce went to Dawn's room next and smiled fondly at the mess, Dawn had yet to get into sorting her items out or even picking up after herself. The pre-teen loved to create a mess but cleaning her room was apparently the worst punishment in the world even though she usually roped Buffy or Caitlin into helping her.

As she left the room she heard a tentative knock on the door and furrowed her brow "Who could that be," Joyce mumbled as she headed down stairs and opened the door to see a shy blonde stood there looking sheepish "Can I help you?" Joyce asked politely.

"I'm looking for Buffy?" the girl at the door asked. Joyce smiled at the shy girl, it was a relief to the mother to see Buffy had gone from horrible stuck up friends to nice real friends and she knew her daughter wouldn't get into as much trouble with people like these. How wrong she was.

~GU:CM~

The study session had ended before it was scheduled to due to Buffy not paying attention and Xander storming in and declaring he was bored. Willow had given up then and there as she was clearly outnumbered. Buffy had invited the two back to her place but had set off before them so she had time to ask her mother without seemingly trying to push her to accept. She figured her mother would say yes because Caitlin and Dawn weren't home and she could play the lonely teen card. Buffy enters the yard through the gate and heads to the backdoor, usually she would go through the front but she had taken a few shortcuts to get home quicker.

Buffy noticed the kitchen light is on so she knew her mother was indeed home and probably finishing up with dinner but she quickly saw that the back door was ajar and warning bells went off as she quickened her pace. Barging through the door her heart stopped beating, her mother was lead on the floor unconscious with Angel holding her body, she gasps as the vampire turned to face her and she could see his vampiric face.

Angel put Joyce on the floor and stood with his hands up "This isn't what it looks like," he defended as he started to walk backwards. Buffy looked from her mother's prone body to Angels retreating form and gave chase. Angel spun on the spot and rushed into the living room and hoped to reach the front door before Buffy caught him. With Angel's back turned to her Buffy put on a burst of speed and collided with his back causing the vampire to fly out of the front window. Angel tumbled over the porch with the speed he had been traveling. Buffy stopped by the window and saw Angel standing up "You're not welcome here," Buffy ground out in anger and heartbreak "You come near us and I'll kill you." Decision made. Buffy rushed back to the kitchen, grabbing the phone on her way. Buffy knelt beside her mother and dialled 911 "Mom, Mom can you hear me?" Buffy placed her hand over her mother's neck and used the other one to place the phone to her ear "Yes I need an ambulance, 1630 Revello Drive!" Buffy looked around for a dish towel as the Operator asked her a question "My Mother cut herself, she lost a lot of blood, Please hurry," Buffy dropped the phone and placed her other hand over the hand on her mother's neck.

"Hey Buffy!" Xander called out as he and Willow walked through the back door only to stop as they saw Buffy kneeling over her mother "Oh my God!" Xander exclaimed as he dropped down next to Buffy.

Willow quickly rushed over to grab a dish towel before joining them on Joyce's other side and handed Buffy the dish towel to hold to the wound. "What happened?" Willow asked trying to remain calm. She had no idea how to handle this situation and with it being her best friend's mother just made it worse.

Buffy nodded her thanks to Willow as she applied the cloth material to her mother's neck "Angel!" She scowled as she answered. The teens remained silent as they waited for the EMT's. The ambulance arrived and did their job before informing Buffy that her mother was going to be taken to hospital and asked her if she wanted to ride with them but Buffy shook her head stating that she had to collect her sister and that she would go afterwards.

Willow and Xander wrapped an arm around Buffy "We'll come with you to get Dawn," Willow whispered as they watched the ambulance drive off. Buffy nodded her head and turned back to the house and noticed the broken window, she slumped a little knowing she was going to be in trouble over the broken window.

~GU:CM~

Buffy sat beside her mother, the doctor had told them that her mother wasn't in any danger after they stopped the bleeding and that she would wake up soon. Willow had taken Dawn to the cafeteria to get a drink and a snack whilst Xander had called Giles to inform him about Ms Summers and the broken Window. Giles had said he would have one someone fix the window on the down low and the Council would fund it. The Council didn't want people sniffing around their Slayer after all.

The Slayers attention turned to her mother as she groaned "Mom?" Buffy asked as she gripped her mother's hand. Joyce squeezed the hand as she opened her eyes, the mother of three groaned but nodded to Buffy "Mom are you alright?" the daughter asked the mother who nodded again. The blonde got up and called for a doctor who checked Joyce over and stated she would need to stay the night but was in no serious danger. Buffy left a message with Xander to get Willow and Dawn from the cafe, when the blonde came back into the room her mother was sat up in the bed looking a lot better than she had when she left. "Do you remember anything, mom?" Buffy asked as she perched on her mother's bedside, smiling as her mother placed a hand on her forearm.

Joyce concentrated for a few seconds before nodding her head hesitantly "Not much, Just that a friend of yours came over...I think I was going to make snacks," Joyce bought her free hand to rub her forehead before shaking her head, signalling that she couldn't remember much after that. Buffy was glad her mother didn't remember being attacked by a vampire, she did not need that hassle again. "I guess I slipped and cut my neck on," her brows furrowed in confusion this time "The doctor said it looked like a barbecue fork," the statement almost sounded like a question as Joyce spoke to Buffy "We don't have a barbecue fork." That was a statement though and Buffy had to resist the urge to squirm under her mother's gaze, she could almost feel the question forming in her mother's head. Luckily form Buffy Giles came through the door, Joyce turned to the gentleman who entered the room "Are you a doctor?"

Giles stopped in his tracks like a deer caught in headlights, he hadn't expected Joyce to be awake so soon. Buffy, who was thankful for the unintentional save, quickly jumped in "Oh! No Mom, this is Mr Giles."

Joyce looks at her daughter the back at Giles, Buffy could see the confusion mounting in her mother's eyes "The Librarian from your school?" The older female asked the younger female. Buffy nodded her head. "What's he doing here?" she continued to ask, not aware that she was being slightly rude; the other two occupants were not exactly going to call her out on it. She was in hospital after all.

Giles shot a look at Buffy before focusing on Joyce "Uh, I-I just came to pay my respects, wish you a speedy recovery." The teen rolled her eyes but smiled when her mother looked at her for confirmation.

"Boy, the teachers really *do* care in this town," Joyce replied loudly in a tone that Giles couldn't decipher but Buffy could, it was her Mother's 'I don't really believe what you're saying but giving you the benefit of the doubt' tone.

The Slayer quickly jumped in and kissed her mother on the lips and then the forehead, the Halliwell Tradition, and then rested her forehead on Joyce's "Get some rest now." Buffy knew Joyce would mention Giles later but for now they were both content to just leave it alone. Joyce was led in a hospital bed and knew she had freaked out her daughters so she didn't want to start anything.

Joyce gripped the back of her daughter's neck keeping their foreheads together. Giles, seeing the intimate moment between mother and daughter, left the room. "Is Dawn here?" the blue eyed female asked her green eyed daughter. Buffy nodded. Joyce smiled softly "Is she with Willow and Xander?" She didn't know why she knew the two teens were there but she did. Buffy nodded again, a little too choked up to respond. Joyce rubbed her fingers on Buffy's neck in a soothing motion "Did you call your Grandmother?" Buffy shook her head. They both knew Grams would shove everyone in the car and drive down to see them, none of them needed that. "Good girl," Joyce hated the thought of her mother coming to town just to see her in hospital "Now you run along whilst I take a nap and I expect both my girls here when I wake up."

Buffy cleared her throat and nodded again "Okay mom, I'll get Willow and Xander to bring Dawn in whilst I go get you some clothes and food so I might be a while." Buffy got up and exited the room. She saw Giles a little down the hall waiting with Willow, Xander and Dawn so she made her approach. Dawn flew from under Xander's arm and wrapped her arms around her sister's waist and buried her head in Buffy's shoulder. Buffy pulled Dawn in tight and dropped her head down to place a kiss to Dawn's crown. The friends watched silently as the sister's comforted each other, they didn't wait long before Buffy regained her composure. "The Doctor told me earlier that she's going to be okay. They gave her some iron…her blood count was a little…"

Giles nodded his head as he interrupted "…a little low. It presents itself like a mild anaemia." The Watcher shot Dawn a quick glance before he continued "You were, uh, you were lucky you got to her as soon as you did."

"Lucky?" Buffy scoffed at the word "Stupid." She should have known better than to be so relaxed after finding out Angel was a vampire, just because she liked him didn't mean he was any different than Lothos. Dawn tightened her grip and it made Buffy glad she was a Slayer or the hold would be painful.

The younger male shook his head "Buff, it's not your fault," Sure she knew he was a vampire but none of them had expected family to be involved. It was a bucket of cold water to the face for all of them.

The blonde shook her head, she couldn't just agree with him to make herself feel better, she should know better. "No? I invited him into my home. After I knew who he was, what he was, I still didn't do anything about it. I didn't do anything because I had feelings for him, because I cared about him. Vampires are all the same. I should have trusted Caitlin's instincts I didn't the last time and that blew up in my face too." Dawn pulled away slightly and gave her sister a sympathetic look. Buffy looked away from her baby sister, she didn't deserve the sympathy, if only Dawn knew what really happened.

Willow leant forward and placed her hand on Buffy's shoulder, the blonde looked at her redhead friend "If you care about somebody then you care about them. You can't change that by…" Willow didn't get to finish as Buffy let out a sarcastic laugh. Willow noted Buffy was acting a lot like Caitlin usually did.

"…Killing them? Maybe not but after what's just happened I'd say it's a start." The older sister started to untangle herself from her youngest sisters hold, ignoring the whimpering that came with the action, Buffy held Dawn at arm's length "I want you to stay with Mom, she wants to see you when she wakes up okay?" Buffy asked her sister softly, she couldn't worry about her sister whilst trying to kill Angel. Dawn nodded before heading to her Mother's room. Buffy hear Xander shout after her but didn't hear the words he spoke. She blinked as she realised Giles was stood in front of her. "You can't stop me from going Giles I have to do this. Look, The Three found me near the Bronze and so did he, so he got to live nearby."

Giles lightly gripped his Slayers arm as she started to walk around him; he leant in close so no one would overhear "This is no ordinary vampire…If there is such a thing. Now, he knows you, he, he's faced the Three! I think this is gonna take more than a simple stake." He really wanted her to think about this but had a feeling he was going to lose again.

Buffy tilted her head but didn't look at him "So do I," she replied with a smirk. It was times like this she was glad Caitlin used to spar with her; she knew a thing or two about weapons because of it.

~GU:CM~

Joyce woke up only a few minutes after falling asleep as she felt the bed shift, blearily she peered down at her side and saw Dawn settling in for a nap. The mother of three pulled her daughter closer with a contented sigh. She did like a good cuddle as she woke up, something she sorely missed with her older daughters.

Willow smiled at the scene in front of her, she'd never had a relationship with her mother where she could go for a cuddle, heck she barely got hugs. She really envied the three sisters who clearly got hugs all the time lately, when she had been round anyways. Willow had even got a hug from the Mother; the only other adult to hug her had been Miss Calendar when she had Aced a test a few weeks ago, Caitlin had gotten a friendly squeeze of the shoulder. Miss Calendar had seemed to know what they needed, the teacher always used physical touch to congratulate the two of them but she was careful with Caitlin and always stood in front of her. Willow had liked the feeling the hugs caused and wished she was hugged more often by adults.

Joyce turned her head and gave Willow a small smile, she knew the redhead was upset about her accident; Xander seemed to be handling it well and didn't need reassurance. Giles caught her attention so she decided to talk to him "They talk about you all the time," she chuckled when Giles jumped. "It's important to have teachers who make an impression, especially on Buffy," It was nice to see Buffy talking about school for once. She was like Phoebe in that respect never really caring about what happened only about going out and having fun. Blood really was thicker than water. They had been raised in different cities and with different people but acted almost identical.

Giles nodded at the implication of Ms Summers words. Buffy never paid attention in school before but seemed to be now. "She makes quite an impression herself," Giles commented back. He had been trained to handle and guide the Slayer but he was shocked when he had first met her, and her sister.

"I-I know she's having trouble with history. I-is it too difficult for her or is she not applying herself?" Joyce was worried about Buffy failing some of her courses, she knew if Buffy failed she would need to repeat them next year and the blonde would be hard on herself, her behaviour may deteriorate again.

The Librarian nodded his head, it was true and there was no point in lying that would not help his case. "She lives very much in the 'now', um, and, uh, history, of course, is, is very much about the, uh... the 'then'. B-b-but there's no reason..." Giles tried to defend Buffy but could see Joyce was well aware of what Buffy was like as she waved her hand in the air.

"She's studying with Willow, she's studying with Darla, I-I mean, she is trying." Joyce was proud of Buffy for trying, her other daughters all tried their hardest and so did her nieces, most of the time. She had no idea where Buffy had gotten her work ethic, she suspected it came from the Summers side of the child's bloodline.

Willow frowned "Darla? I-I-I don't think I know her..." Willow knew everyone's name in her history class and Darla was not one of them. Something was suddenly off with the situation.

Joyce shrugged "Her friend, the one who came over tonight," you couldn't remember everyone's name after all so she assumed Willow wouldn't remember that name as Darla went to a different school. Joyce never flagged up on how Buffy would have met her if she was always with Xander, Willow and Caitlin.

"Darla came to your house tonight? Sh-she's the friend that you mentioned earlier?" The Watcher needed to be sure on the facts before jumping to a new and horrible realisation. He knew who and what Darla was.

Nodding Joyce responded "Poor thing, I must've frightened her half to death when I fainted. Someone should really check and make sure she's alright.

Giles looked alarmed when he had heard the name and was even more so when he realised Darla had been invited in. He got up and nodded quickly "Yes, someone should, right away. I'll do it." He subtly motioned the other two to follow him. As the door shut separating them from Joyce, Giles looked grave as he turned to the teens "We have a problem."

Joyce smiled; maybe there wasn't anything funny about the Librarian after all "That school is amazing!" She was so glad she had found it. She had almost given up on sending her girls to school until she had seen a random flyer about SDH science fair, she had given it one last shot and gotten her girls into Sunnydale after so many other rejections.

~GU:CM~

Raiding the weapons cupboard had been fun, she had been able to choose what she wanted without hearing her Watcher moan. The Slayer spent the time walking towards the Bronze contemplating how she was going to do this. She knew she had to kill him, he had tried to kill her mother, something about this whole situation didn't sit right with her but she no longer had a choice. If she didn't then Angel could try again or worse, Caitlin could try and kill him. It wouldn't have been the first time Caitlin tried and Buffy doubted it would be the last.

Before she knew it she was at the Bronze, she walked into the abandoned and darkened club. Buffy tried to breathe in to see if she can scent Angel, she knew his scent by heart unfortunately, but instead of being able to scent the vampire she got a large dose of fumes from the fumigation. Buffy coughed at the horrible smell and made a decision not to use her Slayer sense; Angel's scent would be hidden in the fumes. Buffy scowled, it must have been why he chose the Bronze as a show down, he could easily get the jump on her. There was only one thing left to do, out herself and hopefully he followed "I know you're there and I know what you are!" Buffy called out as she readied her weapon, a crossbow, it probably wasn't the most precise weapon but it was the least personal. She did not want to be close to him when she killed him.

Angel peered out from his hiding spot but was still hidden enough that Buffy couldn't see him, He was going to play her game "Do you?" he asked just loud enough for her to hear. By the time she had turned the face him he had moved to the other side of the room "I'm just an animal, right?" he asked another question. The typical question he heard from the 'good' guys.

The Slayer shook her head and she turned to face his voice "You're not an animal," Buffy said softly. Angel paused at the tone of voice. Shaking her head Buffy added "Animals I like," her voice had hardened with resolve. She had to do this, for herself and more importantly her family. He was a threat that had to be dealt with.

With Buffy's back to him Angel growled and jumped from the shadows. Buffy, alerted by his growl, spun to face him with her crossbow ready. Angel didn't say a word as he charged at the Slayer, what could he say? This was a showdown and he had gotten over the dramatics long ago. Buffy aimed and went to pull the trigger, Angel had sensed her intent and jumped on the pool table, and the arrow flew from the crossbow and hit the spot Angel had been. Buffy reloaded giving Angel time to jump up to the catwalk, hiding in the Shadows again.

The Slayer held her breath and closed her eyes hoping she would be able to sense him, before she could find him she felt a powerful pressure on her back that sent her into the pool table, the weapon flying from her hands. Buffy kicked out behind her and smirked as she felt her shoe connect with him. Turning on her heel, Buffy rushed to grab her fallen crossbow, she aimed the weapon at the Vampire.

Angel slowly got his footing back but didn't rush Buffy as he had done previously. Angel shrugged and let the demonic façade fall from his face making him look human. The blonde teen lowered her weapon slightly at the human face, it was easier to visualise his demise when he looked the part. Angel growled at her hesitation "C'mon! Don't go soft on me now!" Angel heard the trigger sound from the crossbow but didn't flinch as the arrow hit the wall beside him. The Vampire blinked "Little Wide," he commented.

Buffy jumped to her feet but made no effort to attack him again, she wanted answers and she was going to get them. "Why didn't you just attack me when you had the chance? Was it a joke? To make me feel for you and then..." Buffy stopped in order to gather herself again, he was a vampire and he was the bad guy "I've killed a lot of vampires. I've never hated one before." The Slayers resolve was back up but she could feel it quickly weakening, she really wanted this to be over.

"Feels good, doesn't it? Feels simple," Angel goaded hoping it would push Buffy over the edge. A few well-placed words could work wonders on a simple girl like the Slayer.  
>Shaking her head Buffy knew she couldn't hold it back anymore. Dropping her aim altogether she started to rant "I invited you into my home and then you attacked my family!" Buffy waved her free hand as she spoke and anyone would be able to tell she was pissed off.<p>

The Vampire shrugged "Why not? I killed mine. I killed their friends... and their friend's children... For a hundred years I offered ugly death to everyone I met, and I did it with a song in my heart," Angel swayed with his hand over his heart as if he could hear some music with his memories.

Buffy narrowed her eyes "What changed?" her question was valid as he hadn't killed any of them yet but he admitted that he would have if it had been before, but before what?

"Fed on a girl about your age..." Angel started the tale he had to share. He hoped it was the right time "beautiful... dumb as a post... but a favourite among her clan," as he spoke the bronze and Buffy became unimportant as his memories seemed to take over.

The human watched as the vampire's eyes glazed over slightly, clearly he was back in the past remembering what he had done. Buffy found a problem with that, Angel wasn't smiling at the memory he was frowning. "Her clan?" The blonde asked the bring Angel back to the present. She had to know the whole story.

"Romany. Gypsies." Angel clarified understanding how she might be confused. No-one really used their word clan in that context these days. "The elders conjured the perfect punishment for me," he could see Buffy was hanging onto his words and did not leave her hanging "They restored my soul."

Buffy frowned in disappointment, she thought that she would be getting some serious answers but it turned out that all he was doing was lying to her again. Vampires didn't have souls "What, they were all out of boils and blinding torment?" she asked somewhat sarcastically.

Shaking his head Angel responded "When you become a vampire the demon takes your body, but it doesn't get your soul. That's gone! No conscience, no remorse... It's an easy way to live." His ending words were drenched in something that Buffy would call remorse. Not that it was possible he was a vampire, a run of the mill plain old vampire…Wasn't he? "You have no idea what it's like to have done the things I've done... and to care. I haven't fed on a living human being since that day."

"So you started with my mom?" Buffy demanded as she raised her crossbow back up, she had just angered herself by remembering what he has done. It was all well and good to be cursed, supposedly, but he still had no right to attack her mother when he could have gone straight for her. It was her job, her mother was unknowing of the supernatural world.

"I didn't bite her" Angel denied but failed to protect himself, if she was going to kill him then she would get no resistance. He deserved death and much more for what he had been responsible for.

Buffy shook her head, she was starting to believe Angel, "Then why didn't you say something?" she asked as the crossbow was lowered slightly again. Holding the weapon was giving her emotions away more than she realised, anyone could see when she was disbelieving or believing as the weapon came in to play.

"But I wanted to, warm fresh blood is the best blood there is," The vampire's reply was in a low tone but still clear to the Slayer. Buffy blinked as she registered the remorse in his tone this time. Angel gestured to himself as he carried on "I can walk like a man, but I'm not one. I wanted to kill you tonight."

Buffy was struggling internally, she believed what he was saying, this had been the only time he had ever been completely open and honest with her. The Blonde looked at her bow, which she finally noted that it had lowered slightly, and then back at Angel. Shaking her head Buffy put the crossbow on the floor; she had a feeling that she wouldn't need it, not with Angel. Taking a deep breath Buffy stepped closer the Angel and bared her neck "Go ahead," she silently hoped her instincts were right.

Buffy watched from the corner of her eye as Angel eyed her neck but made no move to bite her, Buffy straightened her neck and gave Angel a look he couldn't decipher "Not as easy as it looks."

"Sure it is!" A voice sounded from behind them. Angel peered over whilst Buffy spun on the spot. They both watched as Darla strolled from the shadow with her hands behind her back, the picture of innocence, only that they knew better. Darla smirked as they duo turned their attention on her "do you want to know what the saddest things in the world are?" the blonde vampire asked with a small pout.

Angel rolled his eyes at her dramatics but didn't respond. Buffy on the other hand couldn't help but comment, playing into Darla's little game "Bad hair on top of that lame outfit?"

Darla shook her head "To love someone who used to love you," Both vampires eyes met for a brief second before Angel looked away. The older Vampire focused back on Buffy and her pout grew back into a smirk "and for someone else to get credit for your handy work."

With clenched fists Buffy ignored Darla's last comment "You guys were involved?" Buffy asked as she looked over her shoulder at Angel. She knew she could relax a little around him now, Darla had knowingly told her she had attacked her mother.

"For several generations," Darla answered the question knowing Angel would either not answer or try to explain himself and the situation, she didn't need to be degraded that way. It was wrong to try and love the thing that was designed to kill them and exactly what was happening.

The response from Darla caused Buffy to turn back to face her. Anger and disgust building up inside of the blonde so she decided to lash out the only way she really knew how to "Well, you been around since Columbus, you are bound to pile up a few ex's. You're older than him, right? Just between us girls, you are looking a little worn around the eyes."

"I made him," Darla started forcefully before she softened and smiled "There was a time when we shared everything, wasn't there Angelus?" The creator asked her created but frowned as she didn't get a response "You had a chance to come home, to rule with me in the Master's court for a thousand years, but you threw that away because of her." Buffy just raised an eyebrow, a response she had picked up from Caitlin, at the accusation but refused to comment, the Vampire clearly had issues she needed to vent. "You love someone who hates us. You're sick. And you'll always be sick. And you'll always remember what it was like to watch her die," Darla lost her focus on Angel as she finished and focused fully on the Slayer. "You don't think I came alone, do you?" Darla shrugged lightly and smiled her supposedly innocent smile.

Buffy kicked her crossbow up from the floor and held it in her hands with a triumphant smirk "I know I didn't," she said as she aimed it at Darla. She may have had second thoughts about shooting Angel but shooting Darla was going to be a huge stress relief.

The Vampire barely blinked as the weapon was pointed at her but didn't flinch "Hmm, scary." She had the Slayer beat so she really needn't worry about a pesky crossbow. She finally revealed her hands by moving them and their content in front of her "Scarier!" Darla's hands were holding onto two 9mm pistols. She took aim and shot Angel in the chest, she didn't need him interfering with her plan.

Angel staggered back and dropped to the floor as he felt the bullet enter his chest. Buffy nearly spun around but controlled herself knowing she could get shot if she did but the Slayer did peer over her shoulder to look at the injured Vampire.

"Oh, don't worry. Bullets can't kill vampires. Can hurt them like hell, but..." Darla trailed off with a giggle as she let the Slayer think for herself. She didn't want her to think for too long, so Darla aimed the pistols again. Buffy seeing the movement dived over the pool table, just in time for Darla to start shooting at her. The pool table covered Buffy from the bullets that Darla fired her way and she waited for a break in the firing by reloading her crossbow. "So many body parts, so few bullets. Let's begin with the kneecaps. No fun dancing without them," Darla called out to the hiding Slayer with a maniacal gleam in her eye. As she stopped firing she noticed the Slayer pop up from behind the pool table and fire a bolt straight at her. Darla doubled over as she felt the bolt hit her and couldn't believe it, the Slayer had actually got her. The vampire straightened up "Close, but no heart," Shame it wasn't in the right place. Darla ripped the bolt from her body and chucked it on the pool table, almost daring the Slayer to try again.

"Buffy, it wasn't Angel who attacked your mom, it was Darla!" a Voice shouted from above them. Both blondes turned to the voice to see Willow being dragged down to the floor, Buffy presumed it was by Giles and Xander.

Darla turned her aim toward where Willow had been standing and let loose a few warning bullets, she had no issue with them, for now, but if they tried to help their friend again she would show them a world of hurt. Satisfied that they weren't going to pop up again the Vampire turns her attention back on Buffy, knowing she would have to get closer Darla jumped up onto the pool table and headed to where she knew Buffy was hiding.

Buffy could feel the vibration of Darla's footsteps through the pool table and chose the best time for what she wanted to do. As Darla got closer Buffy jumped up, surprising the Vampire, and gripped onto the table and tugged. The sudden movement of the table caused Darla to slip and fall onto her back. Using the distraction, and pushing the table away from her, Buffy moved for cover knowing she had a few seconds before Darla was up and shooting at her.

Darla growled and fired a few shots as the table skid along the floor, as the table came to a stop she leapt up and headed for where the Slayer had hidden, she was getting fed up of this game and was going to end it before the Slayer got in a lucky shot, or she ran out of bullet. A glaring light was aimed at Darla, who looked up at the distraction. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Slayer move again, spinning around the Vampire shot a few bullets at the moving target. "C'mon, Buffy, Take it like a man!" Darla taunted as the Slayer hid again. Buffy leant out from her spot causing Darla to laugh as her taunt worked. Buffy was not facing the Vampire though, her gaze was to a darkened corner of the Bronze. Darla aimed the guns for the killing shot but before she could pull the trigger she felt a sharp pain in her back and in her chest, looking down she noticed a piece of wood sticking out of her chest before she saw nothing at all.

Angel looked up from Darla's ashes to see Buffy looking at him, she was stoned face and giving nothing away. Buffy moved out from behind the counter but made no move to get closer to him. Angel looked at her for a while longer before sparing a glance at the ashes. Angel said nothing as he turned and walked away.

Buffy couldn't believe what she had seen and was utterly speechless, Angel has killed his ex-lover of over a century and that was a major thing. Buffy didn't, couldn't, utter a word as she watched the Vampire turn and walk out of the Bronze, what could she possibly say to that act? Her attention was pulled from the retreating figure by the sound of jingles and a flash of blue light in the top corner of her eye, she turned to it but found nothing but a dark corner. She did note that Willow was glancing over her shoulder but Xander and Giles were not.

~GU:CM~

Willow cringed as the phone rang, it was the same time Caitlin usually rang but she knew Ms Summers had rung her mother and explained what happened. Caitlin was not going to be happy; Willow just hoped she could reason with the blonde. She hadn't been in long either; she had been with Buffy who was feeling down after her kiss and trying to cheer her up. Willow also knew she would have to explain the whole Angel is a vampire thing too. Boy this was going to be hard.

The teen picked up the phone but didn't greet, she had a feeling Caitlin wasn't in the mood for pleasantries.

"Hospital?" was the first thing Willow heard from Caitlin. Willow remained silent; she wasn't going to agitate the blonde. Caitlin sighed down the phone and Willow knew she was rubbing her hand down her face "Willow I'm trying not to be mad. Mom explained it to me, she didn't want us worry if she was alright or not until and getting everyone in the car."

Willow nodded even though Caitlin couldn't see. Buffy had explained that when she mentioned ringing Caitlin up, apparently Grams was a massive worrier. "Buffy said that your Mom wouldn't want any of you to be called until she could call you herself. I did want to ring but Buffy wanted me to look after Dawn she was really worried about your mother," Willow explained now that Caitlin sounded less annoyed than she had though she would be.

Caitlin made a sound of agreement "Yeah I wasn't this understanding about an hour ago," Willow stiffened up at hearing that, she had heard what Caitlin was capable of when she was upset. "Grams and Prue weren't impressed when I dented the wall earlier. They kind of anticipated I'd react like that so Piper took Perri out for dinner. I might need to buy mom a present to say sorry also," Caitlin said sheepishly down the phone.

The redhead was feeling bad that she wasn't on the end of Caitlin's rage "I'm sure they all understand Caitlin," she heard Caitlin scoff but knew it was just frustration at herself more than disagreeing with Willow's statement. "There is something else that I failed to mention too…"

"What?" Caitlin's question was no longer in her soft tone of voice but in a hard tone that Willow knew whatever she said would upset Caitlin.

"Well you see, the thing is…well it's like this…" Willow really didn't know how to start telling Caitlin about Angel and it was making her sound like a stuttering fool.

"Willow!" Caitlin shouted down the phone trying to get the redhead to just tell her. Willow jumped in surprise and quickly squeaked out what she was intending to say and hoped that was that but she figured Caitlin hadn't understood what she had said. "Willow speak slowly and clearly," the younger teen explained.

Taking a deep breath Willow steeled herself for Caitlin's reaction "Angel's a Vampire," Willow waited anxiously for Caitlin to respond but all she heard was breathing, shallow breathing. The older teen waited a few moments before talking in case Caitlin had been struck in silence but there was only so much Willow could take. "Caitlin?" she asked quietly hoping for a positive response, she would take a grunt if only the break the silence on the other end. She knew that Caitlin was either too stunned to speak or was trying to repress her anger.

"I have to go," Caitlin whispered back finally but not the words Willow had hoped for.

Willow heard the dial tone and dropped the phone onto the bed, she could tell by the whispered words they were done through clenched teeth and knew that Caitlin was failing to repress her anger. She only hoped Caitlin didn't do anything stupid.

~GU:CM~

Buffy, Willow and Dawn were lounged on the couch. Buffy at one end and Willow at the other, Dawn had her head in Buffy's lap and her feet on Willow's. They were watching some cheesy comedy movie that was on the try and distract Buffy from her suffering, Angel and Buffy had decided not to pursue anything even though both clearly wanted too.

Joyce walked into the front room with a scowl on her face and the phone in her hand. That had been the third time her mother had called that day, it was barely midday. "What do you think would happen if I ignored your Grams?" she asked her daughters and she slumped down on the nearest arm chair.

Dawn scoffed knowing exactly what Grams would do "She'd drive down and try to ground you," Dawn turned her head to look at her mother as she spoke. Willow furrowed her eyebrows at that; she really didn't understand how close families worked, if she ignored her mother she'd get studied by her.

"If you ignored Grams you would be my hero," Buffy responded. All eyes turned to her and she could see her mother wanted her to explain, Buffy shrugged "You'd have to be the bravest person in the world to ignore her."

The phone rang again interrupting the group. Joyce looked at the phone and groaned at the number displayed "Hello," Joyce answered with a sigh. Buffy and Dawn chuckled as they focused back on the movie. Willow followed suit, still not quite understanding what was going on. Joyce smiled when she heard who it was "hey baby how are you?" she asked Caitlin who was the one to phone. Buffy and Dawn spared a glance but gave their mother a little bit of privacy even though they both wanted to speak to her. Willow on the other hand couldn't help but look at Joyce. The mother of three smiled when she saw Willow focus on her "Buffy, Dawn, Willow and I…You'll be about 3 hours?...We'll see you then baby."

Buffy waited until her mother put the phone down again before talking "Caitlin coming home?" she knew what she had heard but needed it confirmed. Joyce smiled and nodded, she missed her daughter when she was away even though she should be used to it as it happened quite a lot since they had moved away from San Francisco.

"Good I miss her," Dawn's words, even though said about herself, applied to everyone in the room. They couldn't wait for the blonde to get home, she might be angry with all of them but at least she was there at home.

**\Silver-Eternal-Dragon/**


End file.
